


At The World's End

by HarperAstley



Series: Grounders [1]
Category: Fear The Walking Dead - Fandom, The 100, queer the walking dead
Genre: F/F, F/M, G!P, M/M, Multi, Other, The 100 - Freeform, multiverse fic, the 100 / fear the walking dead crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-04-24 02:26:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 57,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14346000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarperAstley/pseuds/HarperAstley
Summary: This is not a love story.Two people fall in love.But it is not a love story.It's a story about the end of the world.And the people who refuse to let it go without a fight.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this crossover mostly for myself but wanted to test the waters and see if anyone is interested on it. I'm by no means a fan fiction writer. But the story helps me when I'm feeling a bit restless at night. Now I'm posting it so you can be the judge of what goes on inside this old noggin.

The loud static of the radio had become the perfect amount of silence to put Charlie to bed. She had slept with it on in hopes of hearing any sign of human life out in the ocean. Most people called her crazy. They had not heard anything for months aside from the usual military commands for all units to move out. Move out from where? It seemed like all of California had been either evacuated or quarantined. It just didn’t make sense. So on a lonely Tuesday night after a cold beer and her usual ration of whatever thing her darling Octavia considered food she turned it on and laid on the rooftop deck listening to the sound. She closed her eyes and allowed her body to sink into the old beach chair she had set up for herself. The radio sat on one of the other two empty chairs that now looked sombre under the starry sky. She didn’t have any hope to hear from anyone but found that this ritual had become an important part of her day. It was, indeed, a shock when the static picked up what sounded like a voice saying ‘anybody’ and ‘hell’. She shot up from her nightly trance and immediately picked up the receiver trying to adjust for a better sound. It took her a while but the voice had not stopped talking. . “Anybody out there? Can you hear me?” 

“Blake! Reyes!” Charlie started to shout forgetting where she was for an instant, and then using a walkie-talkie she had brought up with her to get in contact with the others. “Octavia, Raven! Get out here now!” She said and for a minute ran her hands through her hair. “You won’t believe this! The radio bloody works” She screeched and gripped the walkie again and then turned her attention to the old radio communicator. It was such a simple device. A salvage part from one of the ships they had rummaged through for parts. Charlie had decided to keep just in case. Octavia and Raven laughed at her for it but she knew it would have its moment. Here it was. On a random Tuesday. The big moment. Her heart leaped. Clarke. It had to be Clarke.

“Hello. This is Ark Station off the coast of Los Angeles. I’m Captain Charlie Mason Windsor, do you copy?” Charlie held herself back from shouting into the receiver. No answer. More static. “I repeat…” she spoke slowly, “I’m Captain Windsor speaking from the Ark, off the coast of LA, do you copy?” She did everything not to shout into the intercom as Octavia and Raven circled around the receiver. Raven held a beer in one hand and looked suspicious, Octavia just looked pitiful, the pair exchanged a look and Charlie breathed heavily. “It just did a thing I swear. Bloody receiver is probably zonked again”

“Sure my little British cupcake” Raven took a large swig off her bottle and pat Charlie on the shoulder. “You were probably asleep, kid” it was her turn to take an audible breath. “Maybe tomorrow” she gave Charlie a reassuring smile that felt more like a slap. Charlie held the receiver in her hand and looked down at the little radio feeling slightly nauseated. She had heard something. She couldn’t have imagined it? Could she? Her eyes searched around for an answer and came up empty.

“Look Charlie, just put the thing away for a while, its no good just holding on to these things in times like this. Clarke is… she’s, I mean, I know you’re hoping to hear from her but we saw her plane burn out of the sky over a year ago. She had been bitten. She chose to die and saved our lives and I’m sorry to have to say it but this is not the first time you’ve sat around this thing and claimed to hear voices. We know how much she meant to you but we have to think about your mental health here buddy, this is a little, crazy” Octavia tucked her long dark hair into a messy bun. Charlie felt warm hands around her tall and trim body. At 6 feet and 5 inches she towered above most of the people she met. The contrast with Octavia, who was only a 5’5 on a good day with heels, was a bit amusing. She allowed herself to let out another breath before she said.

“It’s not about Clarke. I heard something. A girl. She said help us. I believe there are more people stranded out there and we have to help them” her eyes stayed glued to the radio and she fought back the burning sensation in her pupils. She didn’t want to cry. Honestly it was probably the fact that she had drank a little too much. She swallowed back the tears and just kept staring at the receiver. Nothing.

“We can’t save everyone” Octavia said again still holding on to the tall girl who got more and more exasperated. “Not now that there’s only about 25 of us who are ready to fight left. We have to get this ship ready and get somewhere else. Literally anywhere. Preferably where people are not eating each other for breakfast” the black haired girl let out one of her little raspy laughs and Charlie could not help but to allow the corner of her lip to poke into a small smile. “God look at us we’re a mess” Octavia let go and proceeded to take a seat on an empty beach chair next to Raven who had made herself at home putting the radio down on the floor. Charlie took a seat next to the pair and put down the receiver. The comfort of the static started to become slightly annoying. 

“Drink this kid. You just need a good night’s sleep and early morning flight around the coast. Tomorrow we have to fly back inland and get more supplies for the ship. You’re our best pilot in the cargo copter” Raven smirked, “so I guess we have to make sure you’re not pulling an all nighter listening to love stories on this radio here” she tapped the black box with her dark boots and handed Charlie her beer. Charlie took it and drank. 

“I’m your only licensed pilot” She said after a long silence. The trio laughed and took turns drinking from the bottle Raven had brought up with her until way past midnight. Raven and Octavia fell asleep recounting old tales of their childhoods in Los Angeles. Charlie couldn’t catch a kip if her life had depended on it. She stared at the receiver with such a longing one might have thought she had fallen in love. She couldn’t help but to take the box into her lap and quietly pick up the receiver again. She smiled and pushed the side button on and heard the static buzz signalling that her voice was being picked up. “Hullo” She said with a sad smile. “I don’t know if you can hear me. But my name is Charlie Mason-Windsor. I’m nineteen years old and am the Captain on the Ark Station off the coast of Los Angeles. This Tuesday night I heard someone calling for help. I am not sure if you’re still listening. But if you are I tell you this: help is coming. Do not give up contact. The Coast Guard is no longer of any help to the public, stay away from them. There are pirates on the water as well, they can contact you through any radio, and they will raid your boat or plane. Please switch to Channel 9 to remain in contact with me. It is a secure station that cannot be tracked because my radio is not hooked up to any boat. I will be checking in as often as I can” She stopped as she heard Raven stir. “I will be waiting to hear from you again. Stay safe. Stay hidden” she let go of the receiver and felt the tears unwillingly breach through her eyes and stain her cheeks. “And Clarke if you are out there. May we meet again” she added in a short breathy voice. Then allowing herself to submit to the pain, suffering, and loneliness of the night she sat back on her chair and for the first time since she watched her lover’s plane crash into the ocean—she cried. 

 

“Stay safe. Stay hidden. And Clarke if you are out there” the voice called through the black box. Alicia, exasperated, threw her own receiver into her bed and covered her very flushed face with her hands to keep her own tears from rolling. The sad voice on the radio had at least heard her once but for some reason she did not hear her the second, third, fourth of fifteenth time. She sucked in a breath through her hand and let out a long sigh. Then sitting back on her bed with the black box in her lap did her best to look at how to Changethe channels on the receiver. “May we meet again” the last words hung in the air like a thick blanket covering Alicia’s entire body. Ophelia let out a little gasp at the last words and then made quick work of wiping her tearing eyes.

“Okay. So we know that thing still works” she said with a small smile. Her eyes were red and she looked worse for wear. “And that we’re going to get help… so lets figure out how to switch to channel 9 and hopefully we can hear McDreamy speak again” She did her best to give Alicia a laugh. Recognizing this Alicia let out a soft laugh that sounded quite pathetic. Then she turned her attention to the radio again and found the knob to fine tune, something, and hopefully the number 9 on said knob was the right … channel… or wave, or whatever the Captain, had called it to receive their info. She picked up the receiver and cleared her throat before she spoke.

“Hi. Is anybody there? Captain Charlie? This is Alicia Clark… I have received your message. Please remain in contact. We are lost in the ocean. We do not have many supplies left and are a party of 8” she stopped herself realizing she was maybe speaking too long. “Sorry, Captain can you hear me? This is Alicia Clark on the Abigail somewhere in the Pacific”

Nothing. The girl dropped everything and then slowly sank into bed staring at a very concerned looking Ophelia. “Great. Now what?”

“Now we put that thing away before anyone catches you messing around with it again. We can’t have another episode like the one we just had. The Abigail can’t sink or we are literally dead”

“Maybe I’ll just leave it on… under my bed” She said tucking the radio away into a safe corner under her bed where a caddy full of supplies had been stowed. She draped a tee-shirt over the radio but turned the volume loud. Just in case. Ophelia was right. Her trust had landed them, once again, in hot water. AT least this time she felt comforted by the fact that this person sounded genuine. That this time, this person was looking for someone she loved, and had hoped to find her. This time it would be different. 

“Okay. Now lights out please” Ophelia had made herself ready for bed and slipped under her covers by the time Alicia had finished hiding the radio in a spot where her hand could just reach the receiver. “I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day” she touched the bleeding pad in her shoulder and winced. “I just wish I had gotten shot in the arm or leg. This shoulder business is too painful” she mumbled before she closed her eyes.

“Yeah” Alicia agreed as she shut off the lights in their cabin and allowed herself to lay down on top of her sheets. She found herself staring up at the ceiling, and again starting to picture the face of a lonely ship Captain, and felt slightly uneasy about the dead silence of the radio. She smiled for a second and then turned to pick up the receiver. She waited until she heard Ophelia’s soft breathing become sporadic. 

“Hello Captain Charlie. This is Alicia Clark… are you out there?” She said again then added softly. “I don’t know if you can hear me. But I am on a boat. We were attacked. It was my fault. I trusted someone I shouldn’t have. Now we have very little supplies left and a lot of us are injured. We need help”. She ended the transmission with a soft, “Please don’t stop trying to reach us. We’ve run out of hope. We need your help” and laid her head down on the pillow allowing tears to stream down her face. She sobbed quietly, listening to the static on the radio, until everything became numb and sleep took over her. She was tired. So tired in fact that she did not hear the static die out and become replaced with a sharp and excited voice, talking in short bursts of energy, clearly surprised.

“Hello!” the voice rang out through the radio as clear as daybreak. “Hello. Can you hear me? You’re on channel 9 so I assume you’ve gotten my message. This is Charlie speaking. Is anybody listening in there? Hello? I will try to make contact again in an hour. Please, stay connected, if you’re out there… I will find you”

 

“Oh my fucking god!” Raven laughed as the trio crowded around the black radio. “Do you know what this means?” Her big brown eyes twinkled in the moonlight, she stifled a yawn, and blinked rapidly trying to keep her eyes from tearing up. “You’re not fucking crazy Charlie… congratulations!” Another yawn. Charlie held the receiver close to her chest and looked up at the pair with a giant smile. “She sounds cute. Maybe she’s even got a thing for tall dark and British, what’s her name again… Alex? SEXY!”Octavia smirked and did her best to conceal how amazed she was with the situation. She pat Charlie on the shoulder and then said sleepily. 

“Congrats Captain… now you’re on night duty, and morning duty, and tomorrow afternoon you’re on chef duty… that’s a hell of a lot of work” She pat Charlie on the shoulder and let out a small laugh. “Thank god you’ve got some pretty cool friends to help you out. Raven and I will handle morning duty and dinner. You still have to fly out in the afternoon but you won’t be leaving until 1, which gives you plenty of time to try and get yourself a date with Lassie? Is that her name?” Rubbing her eyes and tawning into her palms, the short girl smirked again, this time standing up and pulling Raven by the collar of her shirt. “Lets go… Charlie St. Cloud here is trying to create her own romance novel while we do her morning scouting, lets get to bed, some of us have real work to do” she added a wink as the pair walked by Charlie and headed towards the steel door. 

“Hey! I didn’t ask for help, you offered” Charlie said with a playful grin. She felt at the top of the world. She heard the voice again. Somehow, somewhere, there were survivors and they needed her help. She wasn’t crazy and now her friends were at least not doubtful that she had been going crazy. “Goodnight! Don’t have sex on my bed I don’t think anybody in the Ark is qualified to give me psych evals again” 

“We’ll try not to, but you do have the most comfortable pillows O can shove her face into” Raven said as she crossed the threshold and closed the door behind herself and Octavia. 

“I’m serious… if I find one more thong…” she started but it was hopeless. The door shut behind her with a loud clang and she sat back down, looked at her watch, and saw that there was still fifty six minutes to spare. “Maybe I’ll just close my eyes for a little kip… you wouldn’t mind, would you” she spoke to the radio like an old friend. Then she dragged Raven’s seat over and allowed herself to get comfortable. She set an alarm on her wristwatch, plugged the radio into the conveniently placed extension cord Raven had thought to wire for their late night roof parties, and dozed off. It was her first sleep in about twenty-three hours… needless to say; Charlie never heard that alarm ring.

 

“Shit!” 

Charlie’s voice rang clear as the sun blistered over her uncovered skin and she rolled off the beach chair reaching for the stereo. “Fucking hell” more screams could be heard from the roof as the Captain woke up in a sudden panic. “Bloody…fucking… watch, shit!” She checked the time and buried her hands in her face as she came to the realization that Clark was probably no longer on the channel and she had missed her chance. “You fucking muppet!” Charlie said to herself feeling her stomach become ill. The girl probably waited up all night to hear from her. She picked up the radio and the receiver and gave the dial a good few clicks to ensure the thing had been turned on all night and was at least happy she had remembered to charge its battery. She picked up the receiver and eagerly spoke into the mic “ Good morning Clark” she said without even thinking, “This is Captain Charlie Windsor speaking from the Ark off the coast of LA. I fell asleep last night while trying to contact you. Goober mistake. My apologies. I hope you’re still out there listening. Its 10 AM on a beautiful Wednesday morning…” she stood up holding the receiver and found herself staring at the entire empty base. She faced the ocean and was glad to see someone, probably Harper, had taken a boat out into the ocean. The speeder made haste cutting through the water and inside two figures sat laughing. They had patrolled the area successfully and probably were just glad to have made it back without running into raiders. The speaker crackled and Charlie added, “The skies are beautiful this morning. Wherever you are I just hope you get to enjoy a little bit of the sunshine. I swear if you close your eyes, breathe in the ocean air, it’s as if nothing changed at all…” She let out a small, breathy, laugh and dropped the receiver down by her side closing her eyes and feeling the heat. The world was ending and, yet, there was still nothing like the soft ocean air in a summer morning.


	2. 2

“I hope to hear from you soon” The voice blazed through the speaker as Alicia re-entered her bunker with a toothbrush in her mouth, towel around her head, and a smirk. At first she didn’t hear it. She continued to brush her teeth and ignored the look her brother, who laid in her bed reading a comic book, gave her. He was clearly high. “And Alicia…” the voice said again, and her head snapped back towards her bed, her knuckles growing white as she tightened her grip around the toothbrush. “Safe passage on your travels” the voice said again, this time, seeming as though Charlie had been smiling as she held the intercom. 

Alicia ran to the bathroom to wash herself up and came back in a hurry. “Move Nick!” She shouted nearly knocking her brother into the wall. He simply laughed, stood up, and crashed into Ofelia’s bed. 

“What’s the rush?” He said looking up from the comic book he held upside down. “The Captain has been talking all day, she’s not going to stop now” He added and dodged the killer stare the girl gave him. “I thought mom threw that thing overboard”

“She forgot some of us can swim” Alicia said disinterested. She was pulling at the box and struggling to untangle the wire that got caught around her bedpost. “Wait. You’ve been hearing voices all day? You didn’t think to tell anyone?”

“I always hear voices” The boy added nonchalantly with a very lazy smile. “I can’t differentiate them… that’s what makes a person crazy little sister”

“Right… that, that’s what makes them crazy” she replied sarcastically. “Fucking wires” She continued and finally resolved to pulling with all her strength. The radio came apart from the pole and she flung backwards into the bed. “I hope this works” she said with a small and tentative smile. She held the speaker up to her lips and said in a half whisper. 

“O Captain, my captain…” Her voice sounded facetious as it reverberated in the radio. Nick turned back to his comic. Her transmission hadn’t worked in three days. Today was going to be no different so she didn’t need to hold back the sass. Alicia stared at the back box cynically. There was some more static. She tossed the little black receiver down into her bed and reached for a hairbrush ignoring Nick’s smug look. She sighed and did her best to not look disappointed as she brushed her hair, tossed her wet towel over a chair, and looked out through the window at the warm blue ocean. 

That was the moment when it happened. 

That was the moment when from the receiver a voice rang out, clear as day—sending a very excited Alicia flying back to her bed, a shrill yell accompanying her calm frenzy. Nick was nearly thrown off the other bed. He slowly allowed his comic book to fall into his lap and listened:

“O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done. The ship has weather’d every rack, the  
prize we sought is won. The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting. While  
follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! O the  
bleeding drops of red. Where on the deck my Captain lies. Fallen cold and dead” 

Then the voice was quiet. There was a laugh. “I hope you’re not already wishing me to the grave dear” Captain Charlie laughed again trying to keep the excitement in her voice down—it failed, Alicia trembled as she picked up the receiver and pressed down on the black button. She took a small breath steadying her voice. “That is not the best way to make friends”

“Who said I was trying to make any friends?” Alicia found herself saying with a smart smirk. Nick chuckled and picked up his comic book—already bored with the situation. “No. Me? I’m just looking to get out of the water, Captain” She sat back and watched the radio. Every second that past caused her heart to race. But here she was again. Talking to strangers. Allowing herself to hope. Pretend like there were good people out there looking to rescue them. Her smile was wiped from her face and her mind went dark as she thought about Jack. Maybe she’d be reserved. Perhaps she was just looking for a friend. Not a saviour. Definitely not a saviour. 

“Good thing I know a few people that can make that happen” The captain said again in the same friendly manner Alicia had wanted to hear for so long. She couldn’t contain her happiness and smiled broadly at her brother. Nick dropped his comic and now sat at the edge of the bed, then he caught his sister looking dumbstruck. “I am so glad to hear from you. Are you safe?” the voice sounded hopeful. Alicia swallowed and did her best to appear defiant in front of her brother. But inside her heart let out a little flutter and she wanted to jump up, dance, run around screaming. She didn’t want to trust this Captain but her heart kept reaching out for any sort of contact and she felt herself getting to that familiar place that landed them in trouble the last time. 

“Yes” Alicia replied. “But we are running out of supplies and fuel here on the Abigail. We might not reach shore”

“Can you see the coast?” Charlie’s voice grew excited. Alicia’s heart sank a little. 

“No. Surrounded by water and blue skies… no landmarks, nothing, not even a seagull”

“Well isn’t that the tits. Sorry love, I mean, that’s horrible” The girl blushed. Love. Really? Alicia thought to herself; keep it fucking together, you’re not even that bisexual, what is wrong with you. Nick laughed obnoxiously and carefully pointed out that she had grown a bright shade of red when Ofelia busted into the room followed by an annoyed looking Chris. 

“No fucking way I’m going to let Strand steer us around for three more years while I die of boredom on this fucking boat” Chris slumped down next to Alicia and tapped the box, before realizing what it was, and that there was clear noise coming from the speaker. Ofelia sat on her bed and eyed Nick for a second before he moved over so she could sit by her pillow. Her face looked dumbfounded. “We should have fed him to the fucking creeps on the shore”

“Lock the door” Alicia told Nick, who looked at Chris, who threw his hands in the air but did as he was indirectly requested. She pressed down on the receiver and answered with a small smile. “Its okay. I’m sure we are going to find land soon, and then maybe we can get some sort of rescue. Or at least I can… I’m tired of running”

“Unless you’ve been going away from the coast… which means you’re halfway across the Pacific” The voice replied with what sounded like a friendly banter. “But lucky, again, that the Ark has taken to patrolling land, sea and sky and if you give us two nights and a few days and we will find you”

“What the fuck is this?” Chris took a seat next to Ofelia and picked at his hands “I thought we lost the radio. Mrs. Clark threw it overboard”

“This, my boy, is Captain Charlie Windsor from the Ark Station off the coast of LA” Nick replied in a mocking tone. This received him a well placed head thump by his flustered looking sister. Alicia certainly hadn’t pictured the first time she talked to the Captain to be like this. She expected something more… personal. Instead this sounded like a bad conversation on a dating website—performed live in front of your friends. 

“I got it back” Alicia responded curtly. “Listen, Captain, not to sound like a total buzzkill but the ocean is quite large and we’ve been travelling fast. How do you plan on finding us?”

“Whoa… wait. No. Alicia I am sorry but we’re not doing this again” Ofelia took the radio from the brunette who had very little time to react. “Hello Captain Phillips… my name is Ofelia Salazar and I am going to be the one who deals with you from now on, do you understand? We might not have supplies but we are heavily armed and will not hesitate to pull any triggers, got it?” When she finished all that could be heard was static. Alicia looked at Ofelia in mild anger, mild awe, and overall confusion. Chris and Nick looked at each other for a second before they started to laugh obnoxiously. “Shut up” the girl said clutching at her shoulder. She had moved it too hard as she shouted into the speaker. A laugh came finally came through the radio—a warm, friendly, laugh that even made Ofelia smirk. 

“O-Ofelia, you’ve been on my mind girl like a drug” she sang into the radio, she had a great voice, a bit reserved but good. The lyrics were a reference to The Lumineers, a decent song, which made Alicia smile to herself. “No worries love. I wouldn’t dream of attacking anybody. We are not Pirates. I’m a pilot, at an offshore naval base that’s why I am a Captain see… I fly planes, though I am pretty good at handling a boat or two, I was elected Captain about a year ago. I patrol the coast with a small skipper but have flown a jet. I carry a few guns but mostly for protection and have no interest in pillaging or raiding anything except for a large plate of bangers and mash on a daily basis”

“Bangers and Mash? A fucking Jet?” Chris said, “What the fuck? My turn. This kid is clearly higher than Nick right now”

“No” Alicia threatened him with a stare. Ofelia spoke again. 

“Okay Captain Charming… how do you plan on finding us?”

“Do you know your coordinates?”

“Even if we did. We are not going to say it on an open radio line. Besides we were raided and they crashed our transmission. We have nothing except the sunrise and sunset” Ofelia said settling down next to Alicia. Alicia grabbed the receiver and added. 

“I can probably get our last coordinates but have to wait until everyone is sleeping”

“Leesh” Ofelia exclaimed through gritted teeth. A knock came on the door and they looked around at who would try and go distract whatever nosy adult was knocking. It was her mom, of course, trying to impose the open door rule whenever they were in there together. This rule was mostly for Ofelia and Nick—because nobody knew what the hell was going on there, but she had been suspicious of Alicia’s recent early night bedtimes as well. She had been dying to catch her with that box. Or at least, Nick, said she had a clue or two about it.

“Captain we have to go but will you stay in contact with us?” Alicia said in impulse. “I don’t mean to impose… but I promise to explain later”

“Of course I will” Charlie responded quickly. “I will check in every hour. I will be doing a patrol over the coast today, and a ride out to catch what our tech thought was Pirating activities, but will carry my radio. If I forget but you remember please give me a little ring”

“Also I wanted to let you know that Clarke is not here Captain” Alicia said. She didn’t know why she said it but felt it was wrong to leave that bit of information out. “I’m sorry” she tried to sound as sincere as she could. Ofelia shushed the other two boys and sent Nick to the door to deal with Madison. The blonde woman poked her head in instantly and everyone froze in their spot hoping Charlie wouldn’t answer. She didn’t. Madison grabbed Chris and said something about Travis looking for him. The boy rolled his eyes but once again followed command shutting the door behind him. 

“I know” Charlie answered after much time. Her voice sounded strained as though she was forcing herself to say it. “You guys would not still be stranded at sea had she been on your boat” the voice seemed to quickly add. Alicia saw through Charlie’s walls for a brief instant—recognizing the agony of having lost someone in this shit spectacle some were calling ‘The Apocalypse’. “I have to go see some people about finding you guys and get myself something to eat before I pass out on this rooftop. Listen up my little lambs, stay safe, stay hidden. If you can, try not to move around too much. Stop your vessel and travel only by night. Pirates raid the waters during the day”

“And what of Pirates?” Ofelia said, “At least if we’re moving you can get away”

“If a Pirate sees a still ship they will probably raid it and you can get away by hiding somewhere like its engine room or near the boiler. They don’t care about stealing that. They just want supplies. If they see a moving ship they’ll blow it up first and hope your belongings float about” Charlie spoke in a knowledgeable tone. Nick shrugged and nodded in agreement. Ofelia looked stunned and Alicia smiled. “Stay still and they might even ignore you…thinking you’ve already been raided. Hang a black, red, or blue teeshirt starboard if you want to be safest. It signals that you’ve already been raided—and if you can, stay inside. Trust me, please, I am not lying to you. I am simply being a good neighbour”

“Okay” Alicia said with a small smile. “Have a nice flight Captain”

“I will… and I’ll be looking out for you. Oh and Ofelia, if you happen to see a silver and blue plane don’t shoot, I just got a new motor and don’t feel like falling out of the sky today” This made Ofelia smile. 

“Aye Aye McDreamy” Ofelia replied. Then the familiar static took over signaling that the call had been over and the other radio shut down. Alicia smiled and watched as Ofelia sat the radio down and gave them all a worried look. “So, looks like we’ve got help, but... I am not sure how to convince Strand to stop this boat”

“I know” Nick said with a facetious grin. “Don’t you guys worry. I’ve got Strand covered. I’ll spike every single one of his drinks with a little melatonin… he’ll sleep all day long. Now we have do something about Chris”

“Chris is fine” The boy said as he slammed the door. Nobody had noticed he opened it. “Why does everyone think I’m a kid. I can fucking keep a secret that Alicia’s got a boner for another sea hero” 

“Dude?” Nick raised his hand in protest and Chris shrugged. 

“I won’t fucking tell okay. Besides who else has a plan for getting out of here? I’d rather be raided again than have to sit here with you people for the rest of my short life. I’ll go convince my dad to get everyone inside. If that’s okay with you guys…” He left muttering to himself. 

“He just lost his mom” Alicia said looking at Nick who didn’t look pleased. “I’ll just sit here and keep watch of the radio. You guys can go. Oh Ofelia you need to have your dad do something to your shoulder…its bleeding again” She pointed the obvious wound out to the girl who just threw her head back, Alicia had unconsciously repeated Charlie’s song. Then she picked up her iPhone and sat back against her bed near the radio and popped an earbud in as Ofelia left. She turned on some soft music and let her mind wonder as she stared out the window hoping Charlie had not been lying to her; hoping, really, that she just didn’t seal their fate from whatever evil was worse than being stranded at sea. She sighed: it could be worse. The walkers could have learned how to swim.


	3. 3.

Flying patrol over the Pacific was an unusually unexciting task, but not today, today it was the highlight of the Ark Station and everyone queued up to be Charlie’s copilot. Charlie knew better than to try and go out on a search and rescue mission without Reyes and Blake. So both girls had made their way into the silver skipper, and sat staring down at the blue water like hawks. “I fucking can’t believe there are still good people out here” Raven said taking a bite off a Cliff bar she had packed away for their long ride. She shared it with the other two but still somehow couldn’t finish her piece in one bite. “I mean seriously, Charlie, how do you know they’re not pirates”

“Because they think we’re the pirates”

“If you were a pirate trying to convince someone you weren’t a pirate who would you say you were afraid of, hmm?” Raven Reyes said with an annoying smirk. Octavia gave her a high five and the pair laughed. “But no… she sounds nice and innocent, and cute”

“Yes she sounds like the type of girl who would totally do you after five long ass dates and not let you touch her boobies until maybe the forth… what a patootie, what’s her name again, Alicia Clock? Clock the little ocean mermaid. She probably smells like strawberries and sunshine and tastes of coconut and pineapples, tropical, just the way you like them Charles Mason” O laughed as she realized Charlie was blushing uncontrollably. 

“Its not like that” Charlie did her best to focus on scanning the ocean.

“Oh its like that. You, the one person who called off all search and rescue missions half a year ago, and just randomly started the program again for this girl who you don’t even know… and could be a fucking pirate… yeah, its like that, I’ll give you guys three more weeks before you’re having radio sex and talking about the dirty things you’d do to each other once we’ve found her” Raven laughed obnoxiously. “Look what’s that?”

“Boat with a red flag. Looks like its Jack the Red’s territory right here. Mark it down on the map we need to send these coordinates to Monty right away so he can update any boat within the area to say away” Charlie bit down on her bottom lip and pulled the plane lower to inspect the scene. “Raven get the RPG and set it up. You know these people come in hoards. I’m sure they’ve spotted us and are getting ready to try and take our plane” 

“No” Octavia said with a bit of disgust in her voice. “No need. Those aren’t people Captain Crunch—look” her voice sounded constrained and Charlie did as she was told, doing her best not to look too shocked by the sight. “Biter”

“On a boat? Can they fucking swim?” Raven nearly fell out of the small window looking down at the scene below. A very badly rotten man feasted upon what looked like an older man’s stomach contents. The trio looked at each other for a brief moment; taking the time to have a silent conversation measuring their wits, and then forced themselves to look a little closer. “Any survivors?” Raven asked trying hard to keep her voice steady. They never saw many walkers in the Ark, and took care to eliminate all, who turned before they were entranced like the man below. 

“Doesn’t look like it. He’s having a good lunch, that one… wow wow wow, bloody hell” O said using Charlie’s accent, tone, and sarcasm to mask her insecurities. Charlie gave a little light laugh and then sucked in her breath as the creature gave a screech.

“Lets keep going then” She smiled. “Raven get on the radio and see if Alicia has anyone watching it?” 

“Aye aye” Raven said taking up the black box from under Charlie’s seat. She moved to the back of the plane where Octavia sat and they turned on the black box and heard static for a brief minute. She picked up the receiver and cleared her throat. “Hey hey, this is Commander Reyes, from the Ark Station off the coast of L.A. trying to reach a very beautiful girl by the name of Alicia Patootie” She shot Charlie a coy smile. The taller girl turned with a slack jaw, not noticing that the plane dropped another couple of feet, as O laughed and held on for her dear life. Raven laughed. There was a little more silence but someone picked up.

“Hi. I’m Alicia … you must be someone Captain Charlie had asked to check on us, you’re early by twenty minutes, but let her know we are still alive and well… a little bored and hot but not bothered” 

“She sounds hot and bothered at the sound of your name Charles” 

“Reyes just do your job, please”

“Oh aye aye Captain” Raven laughed. “Alicia you cutie. We have some updates for you. We are currently flying about thirty minutes away from the Santa Monica Pier headed north and we just witnessed a walker sighting in the water. If you come upon a large white, grey, and orange decaled boat with a red flag hanging starboard stay away. I repeat stay away… there is a walker on the boat and he is ready to feast” She shuddered at her last words. “We don’t see any other boats around here but Charlie is aware you don’t know your location and have no way of finding it out”

“Yes” The girl’s voice sounded worried. “Is Cha- Captain Charlie with you?”

“Yep. She is flying low to see if we can spot any more of these creeps so she can’t really talk… here say hi Charmander”

“Hiya” Charlie said into the speaker—turning a bright shade of red. “Listen, we are currently clearing out this map grid and have found little sign of your boat. Based on the conversation Ofelia and I had earlier. Yes, she contacted me, said you fell asleep—I got your old coordinates and am trying the north pa”

“We are looking for you kid” Raven cut Charlie off. “Don’t let the Captain lull you to sleep. We’re going to find you within four days. There is a lot of ground to cover and we have limited resources because we were just hit by a pirate raid last week—but we will find you. Charlie will make sure of that” 

“Thanks” Alicia sounded the same way Charlie looked—utterly flustered. “We couldn’t get them to stop the boat. They will take away the radio if they find out we’re in contact with you”

“They?”

“Parents. This crazy guy who thinks he’s Captain Blackbeard… Ofelia’s creepy dad… they all would flip out if they learned we were pairing up with people we don’t even know but claim they have weapons and transportation. For all we know you could be pirates”

“And yet Ofelia told Charlie your last location and here you are telling me about yourself and the people around you” Raven replied. “Trust me. We could be pirates… we have the tools but we, unfortunately, all suffer from this hero’s syndrome and can’t bring ourselves to fuck anybody over. I mean the world owes us enough right?”

“Right” Alicia responded and Charlie smiled. ”Listen my mom is coming to check on me because she thinks I am coming down with something. I promise to check in within the hour” She steadied the plane and spotted two more abandoned ships. They seemed to be raided by pirates as well and had no sign of life. Then she checked her fuel, and the time, and realizing they had to turn around pulled a quick turn and started flying back at a fair speed. 

“How do you tell time on a boat? I thought they fried your transmission”

“They did. I have my iPhone. No service but the clock still works” Alicia smiled. “I’ve got the timers set so we are g—wait I have to go, mom is coming. Talk to you within the hour”

“Jesus Charlie…” O yelled as the plane dropped another few feet and knocked the radio from Raven’s hands knowing fully well that the facetious grin she sported only meant trouble.

“I needed to drop a few more feet. We need to make sure to track any walker activity on the beach before we return to base. If we’re going to send out Harper and Miller to take care of the pest problem we need to be able to tell them where the creatures are Raven” Charlie kept her voice calm and collected as they flew back, tracking any walker sightings, and quietly talking amongst themselves about everything from the past—to teasing Charlie about her future, with Alicia Clark, the girl wonder. Of course they would make anything nice Charlie did for anybody about a girl. She couldn’t escape it. 

“You know Monty could probably hack into her iPhone if you guys wanted to see each other. I mean the kid could track down… omg, that’s it” O smiled from ear to ear. “We’ll track them down using the iPhone. I’m a fucking genius, patrol is over, we need to get back to base now” She eagerly tapped Charlie on the head. “Now Charles!”

“Relax Commander Blake!” Charlie replied with a laugh. Why didn’t she think of that? Monty. He was the best hacker in the west coast. He had been hired by the F.B.I. and then personally recruited to the C.I.A. and he had barely cleared 18. He graduated high school the same year he hacked into one of Russia’s safest databases and decoded something to do with nuclear warheads. Monty. He wired Wi-Fi throughout the whole base and set up everyone with their own phones and laptops to stay in contact with the outside world and each other. She flew as fast as the small skipper allowed her to—even getting lower to the water so that landing could be hasty and not make everyone queasy.


	4. 4.

“Charlie!” The lanky boy sat lazily behind the large screen of a working naval command center. Alone in the command room he looked awkward and small. His grey striped teeshirt and matching swim trunks made him look out of place. The headseat on his head was the only official looking thing about Monty and his shaggy dark hair made even that look a little dubious. His lunch sat half eaten on the table nearest to the center seat, which now looked much more like a throne, where Charlie took her place and entered a password to switch the picture on the screen—she pulled up a large map and began to input different locations on the map that flashed like bright red little boats. 

“Liutenant Green… its been a while” She said not bothering to look up—she knew the boy approached her and smiled when his hand touched her shoulder. “Where’s your boyfriend Jacob?” 

“He went to get us a few sodas… we figured out how to crack into the Coast Guard system and are trying to see if any of their facilities have any helicopters we can raid, and we found a few locations to syphen fuel, and—“

“Relax I’m not here to get a report” Charlie laughed again as another red blip came on the screen.

“I’m sorry what? You usually have Raven do this... why are you here? I told Jacob not to use his laptop for porn but… you know, he’s imposs—“

“Wrong again…but don’t tell O you guys have access to porn or you know you’re going to have to sit through some terrible lesbian foot kink and lots of her pretending she doesn’t know how to turn on wifi so she can see you cringe at the sight of female genitalia” Finishing Charlie sat back on her seat and pushed the control board away from her. It slid to the side and she tapped on the sides of the large, comfortable, chair studying the boy before her. “I’m here for a personal favour lad… not on the records, Dr.Griffin can definitely not know about this, she’d have my head for getting into this without consulting her as my doctor, as you k-” The boy nodded and interrupted.

“She said your leg is still bummed out after the accident and that you have arthritis pretty much everywhere—which is why once or twice a month you limp” Monty bit down on his bottom lip. “I mean I’m sorry… I just don’t want to be involved in something that’s going to make you worse buddy” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and Charlie nodded.

“What if I told you there was some a level hacking needed” Charlie smiled, “And possibly, maybe, a new rescue mission based on this” Monty’s eyes lit up. He loved the thrill of a new mission. He liked it more than following doctor’s orders. Charlie knew that and she ran her hands through her hair, tying it back up into a loose bun, and pretending not to notice. 

“Rescue?” He asked looking tempted. His nostrils flared. 

“Besides you know Doc tends to exaggerate my illnesses. Remember when Clarke told her I had a cold and she wanted me in quarantine for a week because it had to be the flu. I’m telling you Monty this could be your greatest feat ever”

“Shoot boss” The boy took a seat in the lower level facing Charlie. His face transformed into one of pure lust and curiosity. Charlie knew she had him at mission. He even ignored Jacob as he walked back in with a lazy laugh and two Cokes. Charlie waved and the other boy walked over taking a seat—handing her the soda instead, since Monty held out his hand as a no, and continued to stare at the Captain like his gaze was made of lasers. 

“Alright Jacob, nice to see you” She tested Monty’s patience and laughed as he started to tap his foot impatiently. “We are just say—“

“Jacob we are getting briefed on a new mission for Captain Windsor. Anything you hear here can be punished by floating… do you hear me?” The boy smiled and nodded. “We will strap you to a burning boat and float you into the Pacific. Now get on with it Charlie I’m dying here”

“Whoa Monty we can see your boner from here” Octavia spoke first taking a seat next to the dark haired boy. Raven followed along holding the radio. “We are going to talk to some friends we made here boys… and back off, she’s Charlie’s girl, they don’t know it yet but they are a love story waiting to happen” 

“Yes” Raven said and picked up the receiver. “Now shut it dads…let me introduce you guys to the Clarks” The boys looked at each other puzzled and Charlie covered her face hiding a laugh. Raven had a habit of taking over so much that often she took control of things that didn’t even need to be taken. She pressed the black button and spoke again sounding a bit more official. “Hello… is this the Abigail? Its Commander Reyes from the Ark Station off the coast of L.A. we are checking in and hoping to speak to Alicia” The voice crackled again and the boys sat up in awe. 

“That old thing works?” Jacob said in surprise. He scratched his head and leaned in with Monty. 

“Hi. It’s me Alicia. Sorry about earlier. My mom wanted to make sure I was okay. Its nice to hear from you Commander” the girl sounded anxious. She spoke in half whispers which made Charlie think she was hiding under her bed or somewhere to talk to them. 

“And you cutie pie” Raven said with a grin. “Listen we are here with some techs who are going to help us locate you. Tell them how you can tell the time on the Abigail sweetheart?”

“Well my iPhone” Alicia spoke again. Charlie tapped her foot lightly and closed her eyes to listen better. Monty and Jacob were distracting: their mouths hanging open, one of them grabbing a notebook and pencil, starting to scramble down notes. O called it ‘nerd stuff’. “But its not really working and we don’t have wifi. Well the boat probably does but nobody including our lovely ‘captain’” she said the last word with sarcasm, “Knows how to get on it… because, surprise, he always had someone else do it for him, and he couldn’t be bothered”

“Ask her if her iPhone is registered on the cloud” Monty said to Raven, who handed him the receiver, and shot him a look. Besides Charlie and Octavia, nobody, nobody could give Raven a direct order without being shot down. She was, in her own words, noone’s bitch boy. 

“Hi Alicia, this is Monty, I’m a tech analyst with the C.I—sorry, the Ark Station, I’m here with the guys and my boyfriend, sorry, assistant Jacob… do you have the phone with you? I’m going to need to ask you a few questions”

“Yeah, hold on, let me get it” Charlie opened her eyes as she was lightly tapped on the shoulder by Raven. 

“Come on Cap’” She said with a smile dragging Charlie away from the group towards a table with a tray. Someone must have brought it in and left quickly because Charlie noticed the mugs on the tray were steaming. There were 5 of them and some cereal bars. Their own version of afternoon tea. Something to carry them through until dinner time, “Time for your tea and your medicine” she held up a pair of bright purple capsules and sighed when Charlie took them and swallowed without any water. “Really? You are looking for liver failure… Doc is going to kill me if that happens”

“Doc needs to loosen up. I am not even sure why I’m taking these anymore. She said the stockpile is going to run out before a month and then what?”

“She’s weaning you off you dodo. Do you know what happens to people who take this type of shit and they quit cold turkey… do this and you won’t be running any more covert rescue missions for at least half a month” Raven smiled taking up a mug. Charlie shrugged her off and took a bite off a granola bar “Look at Monty and Jacob drooling over this idea. O is a genius. I’m so proud” Raven crossed her arms and leant back against a column as Charlie watched on and slowly took another bite and swallowed dryly, chasing the harsh texture with some warm tea. 

“What do you think will happen to me once I’m completely weaned off?” She asked. For the first time in a few days really not worrying much about Alicia and the mission. She flexed her long limbs and looked over at Raven who held her mug waiting for the tea to cool off. “I mean I gained about 5 pounds of muscles this week and, well, I’ve started to feel a lot more bothered”

“Like sexually bothered?”

“Don’t make me say it” Charlie cringed. “I just never taught about it before… never touched it or, like, in general got”

“Hard” Raven finished her sentence and took a sip of tea. 

“Well… yeah, its, what its called I guess”

“Not sure how suppressants and estrogen works babe. I got pulled into the Ark for engineering duties… I’m sure you can ask the Doc… But you’ll be fine. If anything you’re going to grow bigger and maybe you’ll even fit into a b cup… if you’re lucky”

“I should have gotten that surgery before the world ended” Charlie laughed. Raven did too. The ridiculousness of it all finally brought up to the surface. Why was she even focusing on herself right now—they had lives to save, people to find. Charlie smiled. “Then again… how else would you and O have your cute little gaybies?” She smiled. She didn’t joke much about her condition but tried to keep the things she said positive around Raven; considering that Raven had been the first girl she had ever slept with, even before Clarke, and Raven did not accept any body shaming from Charlie.

“Well your brother is the cute one but I’ve seen what you got and feel like you could you know… deliver better baby ju”

“Don’t finish that sentence” Charlie said walking away from the conversation. Raven was left standing by herself laughing wildly. The captain was not one to entertain her. “Come on Reyes we’ve got a job to do” She called as she was beckoned towards the group by an excited looking Monty who now fumbled in his laptop like he was playing some sort of game. 

“I want you to be the first thing Alicia sees” he said with a smirk and Charlie smiled. “It might take me a few minutes but you need to be here for that” he spoke in a cocky attitude which made Jacob laugh. So when dinner time rolled around and they still sat in the same place, Harper taking Charlie’s turn in the kitchen being the evening’s chef, Monty got discouraged. “I’ll get it as soon as I can” he drank a cup of coffee with his meal. “Promise” he added as the group slowly thinned out to just him, Jacob and Charlie. Alicia was told to keep her phone charged and camera away from any place where someone could be caught naked. 

“Although” Raven had added with a shit eating grin, “We wouldn’t be complaining”

A day and a half later and the boy still had no results.


	5. Chapter 5

“Tell me a secret?” The radio cracked as Alicia’s voice was brought to life. Charlie sat in the pilot seat of the skipper she had landed on the bay and watched as a few of her friends played in a sandbar they had found in their daily mapping of the LA Coast. They started searching the area for pirates, stragglers, and most importantly walkers. They would go out every day—scouting, planning, and Charlie found more comfort with the radio then leaving her plane unattended. She was listening to a mix she had made and everyone appreciated a little music now and then. With water up to their knees they all looked quite pleased to be doing something besides their patrolling duties. Raven and O were dancing. Charlie smiled before she picked up her receiver and lowered the volume on the music, ignoring the complaints coming from the water.

“A secret?” She said sounding cheeky. Now that things were on their way her conversations with Alicia had gotten comfortably casual. Charlie put her feet up on the dashboard of the plane and relaxed on her seat. “Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested, Elisabeth the First said that, and she would know of secrets… her mother being Anne Boleyn and all” she put down the receiver and waited for the surely sassy reply the girl would be giving her.

“Nothing haunts us like the things we don’t say” The girl spit back a quote and left it at that. Charlie gave a happy sigh absolutely enthralled with the idea of Ms. Alicia Clark and her undoubtedly brazen attitude. “What’s haunting the big bad Captain?”

“Thunder haunts me. Besides who gave you such a wonderful quotation to sass back at me?”

“I don’t know. My English professor had this quote on top of a journal assignment we handed in freshman year. It stuck with me for some odd reason” The girl let out a small laugh making Charlie flustered. Her laugh was so—bright. 

“Well, to be fair, let’s trade them” 

“Fine. Some secrets we hide from people, and others, we hide from ourselves. I don’t care which one you pick but I’ll go first. Here is a big secret… I applied to Cal Tech… I got into Caltech… and I burned my acceptance letter before anyone could see it. I’m not sure if you know what that is. But part of me taught that I was good enough to go and perhaps become an astronaut. I instead picked the school closest to home because of Matt. I wanted to be near him. Maybe even thought we could spend our lives together…” Charlie’s stomach tightened. Caltech. She was going to Caltech in the fall. Returning there actually for her second year getting her Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics. She was literally going to be a rocket scientist. 

“My secret…” She studied herself carefully. She had so many. Her entire life was a big secret. The things she had seen, done, they were all part of the intricate web making up her life. From her sex, to the fact that she was a genius composer who instead chose to study rocket science and engeneering, the fact that she had flown planes since she was nine years old everything… everything of hers, she realized, was a secret. “My grandmother is the queen of England. I am a duke. My father was declared an illegitimate son of hers and aside from a few visits to her castle I have not been part of that crowd” She spat out and then decided that it wasn’t her best shot.

“Shut up” The girl spat back. “Seriously tell me something real. I did… don’t be such, what do you call it, a git”

“That is real Ms. I’ve read Harry Potter once so I think I’m British using that muppet language” Charlie smiled. “My father’s mother disowned him for being a big old queer. His only saving grace is that he had enough money and invested enough to the point where he owned more and had more monetary value than the whole royal family at that time. He ended up getting my mother pregnant on a trip to New Zealand and the queen was so happy her bisexual son had done it with a lady she gave me a title and honours, and would have taken it away once he ended up leaving my mom for my papa. But my mom died three months after I was born so she felt sorry for me and decided to keep me around for show… Harry and I were bunk mates at school”

“Harry as the Prince Harry of Wales?” Alicia’s voice was more serious. She had believed her. “Wait you’re a girl how did”

“My family did not find I was a girl until I started going through puberty. I was born with an extra x chromosome, and for a while was not aware of it, until I grew older and sick, never got hair anywhere, and… well to put it politely grew a pair of boobs. They’re small but do the job” she said and immediately covered her face. What the fuck. She looked down at the people playing in the sandbar and wish they’d hurry back. 

“Boobs are boobs” the girl replied with a soft laughter. “No matter how small” the girl ended. “I’m not terribly well endowed either so I can relate. Tell me more Captain Duke. What are you the Duke of exactly? Cambridge”

“Oh heavens no…that’s William’s wife’s duty… Kate is the Dutchess of Cambridge. I am the Duke of Albany. The only position left not filled by anybody in the Windsor House after Charles Edward the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha”

“Is your real name Charles. Are you Charles Mason Windsor…since your family didn’t know”

“I am Charlie Oliver Mason-Windsor, by birth, christened as Charles the Fourth, and Charles Edward Mounbatten-Windsor in the royal records… but as for me I prefer Charlie” The girl smiled, “My papa gave me that name”

“He was there at your birth?”

“Oh yes. He was there for me my whole life and loves me as his own. He is the Admiral on the Ark. Admiral Geoffrey Randall Mason… he taught me how to fly”

“Well shit” The voice replied back with a certain smile. “Your secrets are so much better than mine” Alicia said and Charlie laughed. “Even if I told anybody they’d never believe me”

“You’re damn right” Charlie said. “There is no Google at the end of the world”

“And why should I believe you?” Alicia asked sheepishly.

“I guess you’d just have to trust me”

“I guess…” the voice broke away and static took over again. 

“Turn up the music lovebird! I wanna fucking dance!” O shouted from the sandbar riling up the crowd who started shouting things at Charlie. 

“Going. Going” she said, and turned to Alicia. “So, Caltech huh?” she said. “It’s a shame you burned that letter. We could have been bunkmates”

“What?” the voice said in a half shout, clearly surprised, and slightly curious. 

“That’s a story for another day, but from Beaver to Beaver, you would have been a wonderful addition to our family. Maybe if the world continues to exist a little longer you might reconsider going. I happen to know the President. I’d put in a good word for you if you don’t get to meet him at the Ark… you’d be a shoo in”

“And how would you know the President of Caltech my lovely Duke of Albany?”

“You’re going to probably piss yourself, love. He’s my dad”

“Stop it”

“I’d never lie to you Alicia, you’re too special”

“Am I?”

“Yes. Yes, you are…” 

“I can hear Octavia threatening you to turn up your radio from here. It’s very unbecoming of a Duke to keep a lady waiting. I’ll call back tonight before I go to bed. I want to hear more of your secrets”

“Aye aye Captain. May we meet…someday” Charlie replied before the radio turned back to static. She turned up the radio, dropped the anchor on the side of the skipper, and hopped out into the water. She needed to cool down. The ocean was just the right place to do that.


	6. Chapter 6

“Why do you keep checking your phone honey? We are in the middle of the ocean at the end of the world, trust me, I think Facebook is not currently working” Alicia sat in the cramped kitchen quarters of the Abigail with half a granola bar in her mouth. They were pretty much living off of those things now and, though she noticed her figure had gotten a little thinner, she just wanted something hot. Her mom sat staring out of the window into the ocean, scanning, always scanning for any land or life form. It had been yet another day waiting to hear from the Ark. Another day to hear from the Duke of Albany. Another day stuck in the Abigail and wishing for some sort of escape.

“Har har mom” Alicia said quietly. “I keep checking the time because I’m honestly curious at how long Strand is going to try and drive us straight out of fuel” Her mom chuckled and toyed with a plastic knife she held in her hand. Alicia rubbed her eyes and yawned. “I think I’m going back to bed” She finally said and swallowed another bit of the granola bar. Her mother nodded but said very little. Alicia had spent most of the time alone in her and Ofelia’s shared space. It would have been worrying to her mom, as a counselor, if she hadn’t—after all they were all in for some serious trauma, the real question then being, when would it hit? Alicia’s, apparently, hit right away. A normal reaction. Or at least that was the thought process Madison kept fresh in her head: About everything, really, these days. 

“Do you need me to check on you?” The blonde asked and Alicia shook her head ‘no’.

“Just going to sleep… probably will bother Nick and Ofelia for a while so I don’t end up with a niece or nephew on this little adventure. Between you and me, Nick is not ready for a post apocalyptic lovechild” she mused as she walked away. 

“Between you and I…” her mother smirked, accentuating the I, which just made Alicia roll her eyes—it was the end of the world, fuck grammar. “I don’t think your brother even knows what that word means” Alicia laughed and looked outside and saw a very uninterested Chris toss things into the moving water. She thought about going to talk to him but decided it would be best if she didn’t allow her to get driven into a deeper depression. Her phone was still dead silent. She had given up hope a while ago but decided to keep it on just as a last minute resort. Entering her room she was slightly happy that she was alone. Alicia locked the door and immediately picked up the black box, setting the rest of her granola bar upon the small bedside table, and toying with the receiver in her hand. She wanted to talk to Charlie. Captain Charlie. She had thought it best to cool it for a while; to not show any sign of weakness, but in all honesty she was desperate to cling on to anything in order to feel some hope. Charlie and the Ark meant freedom from the sea. Safety. What was wrong about wanting that so badly after she was the one who got her family into that clusterfuck with Jack. 

“Don’t do it” She heard Ofelia’s voice in her head. “Don’t set yourself up Alicia. We have to try and be strong independent women, like Beyoncé or Lady Gaga, we have to stop allowing idiot men take over our lives” She sat back on the pillow contemplating things when she realized that Charlie was no man. Sure Ofelia didn’t know she was sexually fluid, come on she lived in LA who wasn’t, and fuckboys have no gender boundaries… but the way Charlie sounded, the things she said, even the way she tried to seem like she was this badass Captain was too cute to be ignored. 

“The fuck does she know about anything” Alicia said out loud as she prepped the speaker in her lap and carefully brought the receiver to her lips. “Hey guys its me Alicia, just checking in, sorry to bother you…but if you couldn’t tell, being stranded out at sea with your family is the least favorable activity a girl could ever choose to do” she sat the big box down and leant back on her pillows closing her eyes. The static rang out for a second before a velvety, rich, and quite pleasant voice answered her with hidden excitement. 

“You chose to be stuck at sea? Catch any big fish lately Ahab?” Alicia could feel the smile in Charlie’s voice, she couldn’t help but to smile too, loving that the captain had once again made reference to the classics. 

“No, not yet, but if I don’t make it out of here perhaps you could tell my story Ishmael” she said back covering her face as she blushed furiously into her hand. She was flirting. It was involuntary but there she was being shameless and worse—horrible at it. Literature humor… that was what she had been reduced to… she felt the urge to jump into the deep ocean outside her window and never come out. 

“When we get you out of there” Charlie replied with an emphasis on the first word. “We can write your story together” Alicia smiled. “But now… tell me how is life at sea Captain Clark? How is Ofelia?” Ofelia. The Captain was worried about Ofelia. Ofelia who was just fine getting cozy with Nick. Alicia frowned but wasn’t sure why she was so upset to be asked about her friend. Maybe its because she’s not asking about me, her heart told her brain, who then shot back a very well placed ‘fuck off’and carried on. 

“Her shoulder is still shot. She feels useless and I think she might be having a thing with my brother… Chris is still being Chris, my mom and Travis have shown way too much PDA on this trip, Strand is still a douche canoe so we’re riding in circles, and I feel like I’m destined to die on this boat” Everything spilled out of her at once. It took her, as well as the girl in the other end of the line, by surprise because it took a while for her to respond. “Sorry… I’ve just been holding that back for too long” she put down the receiver deciding to shut up. 

“Sorry. Douche canoe?” there was more laughter. The green eyed girl perked up at the knowledge that the silent hadn’t been awkward. Charlie had been laughing. Her laugh was sweet, almost musical, and it permeated the cramped quarters sending a flurry of warmth up Alicia’s chest and neck, down her back, to her… she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the feeling. 

“I’m going to take it you’ve never heard that one before?” She spoke again trying to suppress any girly tone her voice could muster. She wanted to appear tough. As much as she craved talking to the girl; she couldn’t let Charlie in. Not now. Probably not ever. Not after loosing Matt. Not after seeing what the world was coming to. Not to another stranger who could possibly want to kill her and her family. 

“No. But I am sorry you’re having a lousy time. I had negotiations with the Coast Guard Captain today. If it makes you feel any better he’s a douche canoe too” the girl said, “and actually he’s not even at the canoe level… the guy is a straight up douchemarine”

“Douchemarine?” Alicia added quickly, laughing, while trying to be quiet. She was supposed to be sleeping. 

“Well its like your canoe see…but there’s so many deep levels in the douche waters he descends into its more like a submarine than a boat. You’d love him. His name is Bellamy Blake”

“Blake… isn’t Octavia named Blake?”

“Yep. That’s her brother… he used to be a Commander here in the Ark but chose to leave and become a Captain with the Guard. He wanted to rule so bad he forgot we’re the closest things he has to family, and that his baby sister was thrown out of the Guard for saving some refugees after this whole walker invasion started. But it’s all okay now. I think it went well… or at least I hope it did… if not the Ark would have to come after them, and I’m pretty sure Monty’s got some pretty heavy missile codes” the captain spoke nonchalantly as though this happened everyday: though talking about negotiations with the U.S. Guard was something that people her age did regularly, if she really was even 19 like she had said.

“What did you negotiate?” Alicia leant in as though she was about to listen to a well-kept secret. It just occurred to her that she was talking to someone who was clearly very high in some branch of the Navy. She had never heard of the Ark. But then again, she had never heard of people eating each other, but here she was. 

“She negotiated The Abigails’ safe passage through open U.S. waters” Alicia jumped back at the change of tone. “Hiya cutie… Charles was not going to tell you this…but its important that you know she’s doing all she ca—“

“Shut up Reyes” She could hear the small argument through the speaker and flushed again. “Stop it…you’re weirding her out…making me to be some kind of pratty..”

“You are a 19 year old Captain of a secure, offshore, military, naval and airforce base… your father is in the royal family, and for god sakes you were getting an undergraduate degree in the top STEM university in the world… but can recite Shakespeare like you are a librarian, you are a prat… now go, you know you’re supposed to go right to Doctor Griffin’s office after you come back… we need to check you, and you definitely need a shower, is that your blood on your pants or Bellamy’s…” Raven shouted back, she laughed, then turned back to the speakers but not before she said “She’ll be here when you get back… now go” More shuffling and Alicia heard a long drawn out sigh. She was laughing quietly to herself “But really… hope everything is safe and you’re doing ok. Monty is having trouble hacking into your phone but he will do it. I’ll have Charlie get back to you after her meeting with the Doctor”

“Is she okay?” Alicia said allowing an inch of concern escape from her lips. Shit. She closed her eyes and rubbed the small tattoo on her wrists as a reminder to not let herself show too much—it was too late, but still, no trouble warning herself some more.

“Oh did you hear all of that?” Raven sighed loudly. “I’m sorry kid. Look she’s had a long day but has been dying to come back to this radio. But at the same time she does have to run operations here everyday and these Coast Guard jack offs are constantly making our life a hundred times harder. But there you have it… reassurance that your boat won’t be sunk”

“Can they do that? Just sink boats?” Alicia ignored the whole part where Raven made it seem like she was an inconvenience. She nuzzled down on her pillow and waited for the answer. 

“Yes they can, and they fucking do” Raven sounded cold. “They sink planes too… shoot them right out of the fucking sky. They brought Clarke down. They brought Lincoln and Anya down. These were all our closest friends… I hate them all but Charlie thinks Clarke would have wanted us to create this alliance”

“Clarke” Alicia said pensively. Charlie’s Clarke was her Matt. “She was bitten”

“Yeah” Raven sighed. “Or we thought she was but never confirmed it … thanks to Bellamy, he gave away our location, we were trying to rescue a family from shore and they were attacked by walkers. They blasted her plane clear out of the sky. Charlie didn’t fly that day. She had to sit at the head of the command station to give us our orders. She watched Clarke fall right out of the sky and into the sea. A part of her died that day… and she’s been obsessed with this radio, hoping to hear from her again, so she just sits by it… waiting, day and night, and morning, and while she flies… ”

“I suppose she has hope” Alicia said and could hear Raven sigh. She wanted to sigh too. A small part of her felt a little disappointed that Charlie only checked the radio for Clarke. Jesus. Alicia flushed again. She scolded herself for feeling, in some twisted way jealous, of someone who was dead. 

“I think I’ve talked too much” Raven finally admitted. “Look stay put. I’ve been in the command room a couple of times and Monty is working his ass off. Charlie keeps checking in like crazy. O and I have mapped out another part of the Pacific but we had no luck” her voice sounded defeated. Alicia looked out of her window and didn’t know what else to say. “Shits rough out here, princess, but we’ve got your back. Charlie is making sure of it”

“Thanks” it finally came out. 

“Stay strong” Raven said again and then Alicia heard the radio silence completely. She unlocked her door, and laid back on her pillow—feeling a bit unsettled and bitter. She wanted now, more than ever, to be off the ship. She was embarrassed to know so much about the Captain. She felt as though she was intruding and she hated that feeling. So she closed her eyes and did her best to drift away; an easy task, really, considering they had been adrift for two weeks now and the ocean seemed endless, fucking endless, fucking endless.  
\----

Charlie sat alone in her cabin nursing a lukewarm bottle of water and doing her best to stay awake but the ocean, and the fact she had been up for over twenty four hours, were giving her a good fight. Raven had dropped off the radio but told her nobody was going to be available for a while so she felt restless. Charlie was wrestling her feelings, between wanting so desperately to search through the different frequencies for Clarke and the need to sleep, when there was a soft knock on her door. It was Dr. Griffin coming in to check on her again. The older woman smiled and allowed herself in with a small smile. She had a medkit, and a banana bag, with her. She was here to probably to give her some more fluids with electrolytes. Behind her a doe eyed Raven held up the radio and mouthed a hushed ‘sorry’ and placed it by the door sneaking away quietly. Abby smiled and shut the metal door behind her. Charlie wanted to speak but instead leant back against her pillow and closed her eyes: she had grown very weary of sharp things in the last year, and despite Abby’s soft hands and her crazy ability to trick her into allowing her to stick her with ease, the Captain was still scared. “You know Dr. Griffin I can’t say I like you very much when you walk at me with those needles” her words came out in a high sing song voice. She was nervous and Abby knew it. 

“I can’t say I like you very much when you never show up for your checkups” The woman retorted with a smile. “Where did you go today?”

“I was tired and took a nap” Charlie said her rehearsed line on cue. Dr. Griffin placed her med kit on the nearby table and took a seat on a chair she pulled away from a neatened desk with books, maps, and a picture frame. She smiled as she saw her daughters face smiling back at her through the picture. Charlie smiled watching Dr, Griffin loose her usually tight composure. 

“Right? So that silver plane that took off the hangar with the British flag painted on its wing must have been your brother…” Charlie blushed. Her brother Wilhelm, Will, had been in the hospital wing for a year with two broken arms and a spinal fracture. Dr. Griffin smirked and started taking out the IV kit and Charlie shuddered. “Look you’re the only family I have left… you told me you’d always take care of my daughter and you did, right until the end, isn’t it only fair that you look after my other daughter too” She smiled taking an alcohol swab and waiting for Charlie to extend her arm. The tall girl did. She smiled sheepishly and closed her eyes tightly when the Dr. started the IV line. 

They spoke for a while, laughing and crying as she got her first banana bag with antibiotics at a slowly painful rate, Dr. Griffin gave her a dosage of her suppressants and had her dinner inside her cabin. It was way dark when the older woman left, a new bag of fluids and electrolytes hung up on a hook near Charlie’s bed set to work overnight. She had taught Charlie to remove the line in case she needed to go to the bathroom but advised her not to tamper with the rate in which she took the fluids. After all of this and a kiss to the forehead Dr. Griffin left—leaving the radio on Charlie’s bed with a smirk that was hauntingly like Clarke’s. “Its okay to move on Charlie” She said as she stood at the door. “It has been over a year… and Clarke wouldn’t want you to punish yourself for the rest of your life. If I were you I’d put down that radio for good. Its okay to stop looking for her” she bit down on her bottom lip and sighed. “I love you kid. Goodnight” she smiled. Charlie sighed and mumbled a quick goodnight—and it just hit her. She hadn’t been searching for Clarke for a week. She had spent her nights falling asleep to the stories coming from the Abigail, from Alicia, she had let go—it was that thought that allowed her to pick up the receiver and turn on the black box with purpose.

“Far apart we live in the wash of the waves, the fathermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant with us” Charlie spoke in a dreamy like voice. She was half dozed on whatever the Dr. had given her during dinner, and half filled with wonder, with actual wonder at the fact that weeks before she had thought herself crazy for fiddling with the old radio. The reply was almost instant—a voice that had, over the course of a few weeks, become familiar to her. 

“I know what you are trying to do here… but that Homer quotation was about the Atlantic Ocean Professor” Alicia sounded sleepy too. She laughed. “Either way it is fitting for this journey we’re taking…in circles… as we die”

“Sentimental are we?” Charlie replied smoothly. “I told you. Nobody is going to die love… especially not you”

“Love, you’re the one trapped on a cozy facility with plenty of food, its easy to have hope when everything is peachy” Alicia retorted and immediately added, “Sorry Captain… I know you guys have worked hard to have all you do… I just wish I were there” Charlie looked around her bunker and smiled appreciatively. They did have it well as far as the end of the world concerned it; and if it weren’t for the negotiations, and their lack of personnel, everything could be perfect. She sighed allowing her Captain brain settle back into its safe hiding place and turned back to the radio with a smile.

“I wish you were here too” Charlie surprised herself and let go of the receiver. She made a mental note to ask someone at the lab to test her blood for sodium thiopental; why she was going around spilling her feelings was a mystery. “I mean you’d love the base we’ve got so many… libraries and science labs and things, you’d definitely keep away from your family” she put the receiver down and covered her face with her hands. The radio went silent and she stared at her hands for what seemed like forever.

“Libraries and science labs?” Alicia’s smile was evident in the way she spoke. “That’s all you got Captain? Tempting me with the composition of every American High school?” Charlie’s face grew a bright crimson as the girl spoke. She swallowed dryly.

“Tempting you?” Charlie spoke back trying to sound nonchalant. “No way Leeshy-loo you’re too keen for that”

“For the record it was working” Charlie smirked. She laid back down on her pillow, careful to keep the wires from the IV and radio untangled, and closed her eyes. “The idea of a library is much more comforting than that of an endless ocean”

“You know the water is not so bad” Charlie mused. She looked out into the darkness and made out the waves in the ocean beating softly against their own crests. “I mean we are all made of water right?”

“Well just because we’re made of something doesn’t mean you can’t hate it. I used to love the ocean but now all it reminds me is of how gullible I was—how I trusted someone who could care less about me because I craved, yearned human connection… its kind of ridiculous. I could have killed us all. I was baited into a situation we almost didn’t survive. I was taken from the Abigail… kidnapped… and almost, you know, it was a close call ”

“But nobody died Alicia” Charlie replied in a quiet voice. “You made a call. That’s the burden of a leader…you make calls, and plans, and sometimes they get flipped on their arse. Don’t blame the water for having that burden—let it go. As for your getting captured… are you okay? If you need to talk about it I am here.”

“Easy for you to say Captain… nobody is down your throat every day about a decision you made, and I am fine, thank you.” 

“I am” Charlie spoke looking at the picture on her desk. She sighed, “I am down my throat every day… but you know what, the water, for me is a reminder that I don’t have to be. There’s a poem by Sanober Khan that says ‘my dear, we are all made of water. it’s okay to rage. sometimes it’s okay to rest. to recede’. I think of it when I watch the waves in the ocean. They remind me that my emotions, like the sea, can vary and they’re all valid. Just like yours” Charlie bit her lower lip and closed her eyes again. She yawned. The radio hummed lightly. 

“That’s beautiful” the voice on the other end said. “You would have loved Matt. He was all about the art and beauty of the world. I’ve always tried to be part of that but I like to overanalyze everything and usually end up missing the point”

“Matt… your boyfriend… he turned right?” Charlie asked while she kept her eyes closed. 

“Yes. I’m sorry, we don’t have to do this…”

“No” Charlie did her best to sound wide awake. “No, please, I want to hear about him. He meant a lot to you didn’t he?”

“Yes. He was my first boyfriend” Her voice sounded sad. “My longest relationship. Not my first love but the most steady. He was kind and understanding, an artist, who just seemed to get along with everyone—and that somehow found interest in me. I’m boring at best. I like movie nights at home, board games, books… I don’t get drunk at parties. Matt didn’t care about any of that…” she started and Charlie smiled. “He just liked me and the sad part is that I know we wouldn’t have lasted, but we were going to try, and instead we got swept up in this shit storm and now I can’t get closure”

“Well its hard to get closure in the middle of a storm. But it helps to numb the pain a little to remember the good things about our loved ones doesn’t it?”

“Yes”

“So keep going, love. I want to know everything. How did you meet? What kind of art did he like? What colour were his eyes? Talk to me… you know I love a good love story… tell me one. Make me cry”

“You’re sweet. I don’t think you actually want to hear this, but you’re sweet for trying” Alicia spoke back in an unusual tone. Perhaps she was crying. Charlie held in a breath. “Why would you want to know about my dead boyfriend?”

“I want to know everything about you Alicia Clark” She said in a quiet tone. There was a bit of static on the radio but she knew Alicia had heard her. 

“Really Captain?”

“My friends call me Charlie” The girl spoke back, “You should call me that too. But first lets hear your story… tell me about the boy who made you smile. How did you meet?”

“Well I met him in Saturday detention” Alicia started—and she told Charlie everything there was to know and Charlie heard it all. It was way past midnight when they decided to call it a night. Ofelia had apparently sneaked back into the room only to find Alicia half awake and still talking to Charlie. Charlie had unhooked herself from the IV and removed the line she was stuck with and found it easy to go to bed. 

She had barely closed her eyes when her door was slid open by a bright eyed boy smiling from ear to ear.

“Sorry to wake you Captain” Monty spoke, “But we’re in… I did it… no video but I was able to patch her into our systems. She’s far down the coast headed towards Hawaii. Its going to take me another day to be able to calculate her exact location but you should come talk to her now”

“What?” Charlie shot up from her bed and pulled Monty into a sweeping hug. “My good lad you are a gentleman and a scholar!” She kissed the top of his head. Raven and O showed up at the door each holding mugs of coffee with sleepy grins on their faces. 

“Guess she heard the news” O said and took a sip of her drink. “Better go back to bed its going to take her at least another three hours to shower and comb out that rat’s nest” 

“Go alert Chancellor Kane and Dr. Griffin” Charlie said with a grin, Raven nodded in agreement, “Thanks to Monty and Jacob we’ve got ourselves a mission”


	7. Chapter 7

Alicia woke up with the sound of laughter. The same sweet laughter she had heard earlier on the radio but this time it was clear and crisp. Looking over she noticed Ofelia was asleep and that it was dark out. The radio had been silenced—turned off even because the battery was probably drained from her unexpected, and very prized, conversation with the Captain. “Good job gentlemen!” Called the silky voice in the dark, “Here is to you, our finest bottles, for our finest boys!” She heard a few pops and rubbed her eyes while trying to analyze the situation. She must have been dreaming. But the voices kept on speaking and, afraid she had fallen victim to some sick seafaring mental illness, she called out in the dark.

“Hello?” Her voice was stern. The voices went quiet as though they were anticipating something and then her stomach dropped. 

“Alicia Clark” Charlie mused with a smile so bright Alicia could hear it in her voice. 

“Charlie” Alicia whispered under her breath. 

“Speak up dear…we don’t have a visual, just voice, and god do you sound lovely without all that ungodly static” Charlie mused again and her heart did a flutter. She picked her iPhone up from the table realizing that those geniuses over at the Ark Station had not realized she had been laying down surrounded by the complete darkness of the ocean. “Monty was able to hack you into our system. Its going to take him about a day to pinpoint you on a map, but we have already started preparing the rescue team, and sho—“ She was cut off by Alicia’s brief hush. 

“Sorry I don’t mean to be rude. Lets have this conversation outside. Ofelia is finally having some restful sleep… I don’t want to wake her”

“Sorry” Charlie said again. She put the phone in her pocket and it muffled the sounds of whatever little party they began to have for themselves. Alicia crossed the sleeping bunks, carefully wrapping herself completely in her blue sleeping bag, and headed towards the bow. Strand always kept a very bright spotlight there and there was a couch where she could sit down. She stopped briefly in the bathroom to look at her reflection and fixed her hair so that it, at least, looked as though she hadn’t just woken up from a depressed nightmare. 

Meanwhile in the command room Charlie sat on her large center chair watching the black screen and having a drink of champagne. Raven sat on her right hand side and O to her left. They all were having a drink and a bite to eat as they celebrated their small victory. In the afternoon, after Charlie returned from her brief meeting with the Coast Guard, they had met with Chancellor Kane and debriefed him on this mission. Not that he could deny Charlie her own mission assignments, of course. But he was happy to make preparations in the Ark for seven to ten more people until they were able to drop them off in the ground base with the rest of the civilians. They had the space. His only concern was the fact that they could be aiding pirates—a concern which Monty laid to rest once, and for all, once he was able to hack into Alicia’s phone in the afternoon. Now they all sat in the command room toasting to what was soon to be another great rescue.

“Are you ready to meet your muse Captain Crunch?” O asked with a smirk. “Here is to hoping she is not ugly…” she took a swig of her champagne. “I don’t want to have to cancel a mission because you don’t like the looks of your new girlfriend”

“Do you think I’d be vain enough to cancel a search and rescue mission because someone is ugly? My dear I rescued you, remember?” The Captain retorted, her eyes barely leaving the dark screen, but a giant smirk covering her face. She fixed the winged badge on her dark navy jacket and tightened the knot in her tie ignoring the fact that O gave her the finger and kissed her in the cheek.

“You’re no prize either” She said. 

“Oh I am a prize. I’m very cute you know it” Charlie smirked again and decided to unbutton her uniform’s coat despite having on her royal sash. She had a matching waistcoat underneath and looked very regal. Her Captain’s hat, white and barely worn, sat on the chair’s arm and she tapped its top with her finger nervously. The screen shook again and she heard Alicia cursing a little. 

“We have visual” Monty shouted as what looked like a tan leather couch came into view. They saw the metal bars behind it and what looked like complete darkness surrounding the entire scene. “Jacob I thought you said we didn’t have visual” Monty toyed with his control station and Jacob did the same, blushing furiously, as everyone stopped and stared at the large screen as Alicia spoke again before she came into view. “Why was the screen dark?”

“Because I was in my room and the light was turned off Monty, then you were in my pocket, so that I wouldn’t wake up Ofelia…she’s had it rough…she needs to sleep whenever she can. I thought you guys were a band of geniuses?” This made the crowd laugh.

The command room was large—made to fit at least 80 personnel. The screen was as big as an Imax movie and the small crowd had their eyes glued to it. The Captain remained the only person in the room sitting down upon her ‘throne’. She sat right in the middle with nobody behind her—the entire scene appeared to be from a movie. There was a collective hush and quick seating of the crowd when the girl appeared on screen, taking a seat on the leather couch, wrapped in a very heavy navy coloured blanket. Her green eyes glowed against the darkness of the ocean, like the stars that shone behind her, and she looked shocked to see all the smiling faces staring back at her. 

The Captain felt as though all the weight of the Ark had been pressed against her chest. She gasped for air, audibly, which caused Raven and O to look at each other with shit eating grins. Nobody spoke. Alicia Clark was a goddess. She looked curiously at the screen as though she searched for someone—she was blushing—maybe not expecting to see many eager faces looking back at her. Charlie stood up at once and felt Alicia’s eyes meet her and her knees turned to jelly for an instant before she caught herself and raised her glass. 

“Hi Alicia Clark” Charlie said allowing a small smile to cover her rouged face. “It is wonderful to finally meet you. My name is Charlie Mason Windsor and I am the Captain of the Ark Station off the coast of LA” Her voice seemed to make the girl shudder. Charlie was sure it was just the cold but there was a hint of hope at the pit of her stomach that wished Alicia had shuddered at their sudden contact. “These are the people who are in some way, or another, involved in the mission we have to rescue the Abigail. They all wanted to say hello”

“Hello” Alicia said in an unusually shy demeanor. “Everyone” She said in an almost question. “I’m really not really that interesting… I’m Alicia, I’m lost in the middle of the ocean, the other members of this boat are not happy I am contacting people” she added, causing Monty to let out a small laugh, “but I’m glad you have been able to find me” this last sentence was directed right at Charlie who flushed. “Wow..you all are so official looking and here I am wrapped in a burrito”

“A very good looking burrito” O said causing the tension in the room to break. Everyone laughed. Charlie pressed the cold glass to her lips in hopes of not letting the girl notice she was staring. 

“Thanks O” Alicia smiled, “So what’s next Ark Station… how are you planning on getting us out of here?” Alicia smiled. 

“We’re going to have to meet your parents tomorrow” Charlie spoke. “And the other members of your crew of course to let them know of our intentions. Tonight Monty, Raven, and I will be here in the command center trying to find you on our map. Now that we have been able to locate your iPhone it should be a breeze”

“Okay” Alicia smiled, “Is there anything I can do to help?” 

Raven and Octavia took turns explaining how there were a few things they needed her to do at her boat’s controls. As they did this the Captain was called by a dark haired man with a scruffy, peppered, beard and kind eyes. “Charlie” he spoke sweetly and they shook hands firmly. “Look at what you’ve done. I am proud of you” he said with a nod. “I am proud of you for continuing doing a mission even after so much tragedy and I am sure your dads are over the moon. You are an effective Captain and I am so glad to have you in command” Charlie flushed again. 

“Chancellor Kane… you should be in my seat sir, you should be Captain” she said with a small smile.

“I no longer want to lead an army. My duty and service are to the people of the Ark and I do not envy your responsibilities… kid” he added ruffling her hair. “If we live through the end of the world and the new world begins I am not going to be the person these people will look to, to fight for them. Your father taught you how to be Captain, you were born for this, I can’t stay here tonight because I have a few more things to ready before your departure but wanted to see you revel in your victory”

“Thank you, sir” she said and gave the man a hug towering over him. 

“You be careful” He said with a small smile. “Call me when you’re on video feed with her family. I’d like to introduce myself then”

“Yes sir”

“Yes Captain… stay strong” Kane said tapping her on the shoulder and leaving the command center. When she turned her attention back to the screen Dr. Griffin was talking to Alicia and Raven and O sat by her filling their glasses with more champagne. It was a party, after all. 

“Tomorrow I will check in with Ofelia. Make sure, if you can tonight, to make sure she is not sleeping on the side where the bullet is lodged. I doubt she does because the pain would wake her but you never know. My daughter once had a bullet in her arm and I had to constantly remind her not to sleep on her side… but she was stubborn… and it almost cost her just that” Alicia’s warm laugh was something the Captain drank in. 

“Hey stranger” Alicia greeted Charlie back with a smile and Dr. Griffin bid her to sit down.

“I’m just leaving Charlie…don’t stay up too late, try and sleep, you’ve had a hard day”. Charlie sat on her seat and gave her a wide smile. “I mean it… you might be the Captain but I was almost your mother, I care about you” she kissed the top of Charlie’s head and walked away with confidence pouring out of her body in waves. 

“Ahab, catch any big fish yet?” Charlie said putting on a very coy grin. The girl smiled from the other end of the video feed and she settled into her chair. 

“You’ve already used that one?”

“I assume that’s a no, then?” Charlie pressed on and found herself to start getting comfortable. “Shame. I guess you’re going to have to wait for me to get to you before you catch one?”

“And when would that be, exactly?”

“Saturday morning love. Two days from now if all goes well tonight”

“And is it going to go well tonight?” Alicia had a smirk on her face. 

“If Monty and Jacob stop fucking in the command room and get to work” Raven added in turning her head around to shoot Alicia a facetious wink. 

“We’ve never done that!” Jacob said with panic in his eyes. 

“No” Monty added. 

“They totally had sex in that room” Alicia added. Charlie smiled and the crew continued their discussion excitedly. Nobody noticed that their night had quickly turned into day. Not even the girl with green eyes and a smart tongue sitting in front of an endless escapade of waves noticed it. She had been too busy staring at the starry eyed Captain upon her dark leather throne.


	8. Chapter 8

“Fuck! Oh my good holy fuck! I can’t believe I am getting to fly this fucking thing” Raven sat in the copilot seat of a grey Bell AH-1 SuperCobra. O had squeezed herself into the gunner seat and looked ready to kill. It had been two days of no sleep and hard work in the command center getting ready for this journey—two days of watching Captain Charlie and Alicia Clark make heart eyes at each other while they tried to plan their rescue. Two days of complete frustration, joy, tears and pure caffeine fueled adrenaline. Raven threw the can of Red Bull she had shotgunned in her seat out of the plane and James, a scrawny airplane mechanic, threw it out for her giving her a disappointing look as if to say ‘these things could kill you’ while she blew him a kiss “I spent two fucking years waiting for this goddamn moment. Charlie’s dad made me read the whole fucking manual twice before I even got to sit as gunner. Then Charlie joined the base and flew this badboy with me as her gunny… I’m so fucking alive right now”

“Really… the Admiral only made me read it once” O gloated putting on her headset. Raven frowned. 

“Well I see why you’re not the flipping pilot” she said as Charlie approached the plane. She gave the captain a facetious grin and wiggled her eyebrows. Charlie shook her head and shot back a smile bright enough to dim the sun. 

“Yeah well, you crashed the plane that made him have to stay in the medbay inland for the time being so we’ll see how long you keep those wings bad gal”

“Commander, Liutenant Commander, are you ready for flight?” Charlie said with a smirk. She had changed into impossibly tight outfit with a bullet proof vest. Charlie had the British flag embroidered on its breast—Captain’s wings above it—and the last name Windsor below. On the back, in a bright white, it said: ‘CAPTAIN’, in capital letters. As she spoke to them she started to strap on the rappelling kit that would allow her to descend onto the Abigail. Raven and O had fireproof pilot’s clothes and vests over them as well. The trio looked impeccably official. 

“Aye aye” the two responded. 

“Good. Miller, Harper and I will be taking my skipper and dropping me off inside the Abigail. I suggest you keep behind us and cover us. Jack the red has been trailing their ship for a long time now. I trust they have uploaded the coordinates into your plane so… there is very little chance Raven will get you lost over the Pacific. I will steer them back to land. It will be a three day journey and I believe we will be picked up and brought back to the Ark within that time. I have my comlink on and plan to only take it off when I am sleeping… but even then I plan on getting the Abigail connected to the ship so we will be safe”

“That happened once Charles!” Charlie ignored this and laughed. “And yes we know the plan mom…we’ve been over it three times”

 

“I am just trying to be a thorough captain Reyes. We made a promise to the people on that boat that I fully intend of keeping. Besides I also just came to say godspeed and may we meet again”

“We will meet again” O said.

“You can bet your silly tits we will” Raven smirked and closed the cabin of their copter. “We better get going before the doctor finds out you’re going to be awol for the next three days” Charlie stood back and watched the bird take flight as she put on her earpiece connecting her to the base and saluted the pair. The plane made circles around the ship and then was off. Charlie watched for a while before she was called into her own plane. Harper was flying and looked as though she was going to puke. 

“Leesh…” The Captain spoke into her ear piece and was glad to hear a reply from the green eyed girl. “We are leaving the Ark in less than a minute and will loose connection with you. But before I left the command room I saw that you are safe from any contact with Pirates, and we should be there soon enough” 

“Yes thank you Charlie” Alicia’s reply was heard in everyone’s earpieces. “We are waiting for you”

“Godspeed” Said a man’s voice. Charlie recognized Travis’ short greeting and smiled. Travis had been quite helpful during the planning process. He was especially interested in seeing how they were going to get into a destroyer. Charlie had assured him he’d be impressed.

“May we meet again” Alicia ended and they were off into the sky. Three hours. They were three hours from completing the first rescue since the disaster in Malibu Beach. Charlie watched the waves come above the horizon and smiled to herself, touching the flag upon her breast, and for a moment allowing herself to become emotional. Miller clapped her shoulder, climbed back into the copilot seat, and stared down at the rough sea water for a moment before he shouted exactly what everyone else on the plane was thinking. 

“We’re back, bitches!”


	9. Chapter 9

Inside the Abigail there was a lot of turmoil. “Three hours, they’re coming in three hours, we need to get our guns. I have enough for everyone on board to be carrying something when they arrive” Strand said as he sat down on a set of stairs leading to the ship’s command. He had a rifle in his hands and looked mad. “We can’t risk being taken over again. I will not let some white boy come and try and take over my ship”

“Relax Victor I don’t think these people are evil. They’re offering us shelter to weather out whatever this thing is. They’re not requiring anything from us and are willing to come out and rescue us… there’s nothing evil about this… they’re good Samaritans, and I’m personally tired of running” Madison spoke as she stroked Alicia’s head. Alicia was leaning up against her mom with a small smile. She found it comical that even after speaking to the Captain, the Chancellor, and the lead Surgeon of a sanctioned military base Strand was still being difficult. 

“We didn’t think Jack was evil either but that devil was the least of our trouble wasn’t he” The man replied. “No. We take up arms and we take charge. They’ll give us their supplies and leave. We can get to Mexico like I had originally promised”

“Except for the fact that you steered us into the middle of fucking nowhere… we headed towards Hawaii Victor, that’s not remotely close to Mexico, in fact we passed the island already and you didn’t even notice it” Alicia said nonchalantly. She stretched her limbs and turned away from their conversation. “I’m going to take a nap until they get here…it’s a lot more productive than what you’re planning on doing”

“Alicia honey…” her mother spoke. 

“Mom there is no point in arguing with crazy, okay, you’ve worked with crazy all your life… I’m surprised I’m the one telling you this” Alicia said as she disappeared down into the cabins. She had enough of what seemed like everyone’s bullshit for the day. She just wanted to sleep. She had spent the last two days awake, making plans, or simply just watching the Captain as she went about in the command room taking charge and making moves. She was ready for bed. She knew whatever guns Strand would convince her family to get would do very little to stop what was coming. She swallowed dryly as she was faced with the lonely black radio on her bed. They were coming. Their last hope was soon to be exhausted. In strand’s words ‘she had hoped, for the sake of their lives, that she knew what she was doing’. The truth was that she didn’t. But she had faith in Charlie. She had to. Nobody else listened to her like the captain did—nobody, not even her own family. Nobody asked her about Matt. How could someone like that betray her? The idea seemed impossible. She had better things to do with her time rather than worrying about the impossible.

The people standing on the ship’s bow deck had armed themselves and settled down making plans for what they viewed as a possible attack. Alicia fell asleep listening to their idiot conversations of how to overtake Charlie and her crew if needed barely noticing that Ofelia had come into the room and settled herself upon her own bed with a book.

“They’re going to board the Abigail” Strand said in his most authoritative voice. “We will meet them with everything we have until they can be searched. Remember, fire first, question later”

“What if they’re unarmed?” Nick asked, his voice a little insecure, as though he questioning Strand would be out of line. Alicia rolled her eyes. 

“Trust me they will not be” Daniel replied and Alicia nodded in agreement. Charlie was sure to expect this warm welcome. She would never dare come unprepared. 

“The kid, their Captain, she seemed peaceful. Do we really need this?” Travis asked in his most characteristic Travis way of being non confrontational at best. “I mean are we really going to point our guns at a kid no older than Alicia and shoot first. It seems wrong, Victor, we should just have them lying around just in case”

A kid. The thought was ridiculous. When they spoke to the captain, she wore her military suit, fully decorated with the hat placed on the seat of her throne. Her commanders, the Chancellor, everyone seemed to respect her and listen to her word. They even saluted her when she entered the room. But that was the funny thing about adults. Even when the world is flipped upside down they want to pretend like just because they’ve been on the earth longer than everyone else; they know what is going on. But the truth is that they don’t know. Everyone is on an equal plane at the end of the world. Alicia wondered when they would understand that the same rules didn’t apply anymore. They seemed to understand everything else—apparently. Including her own adulthood. She was soon to be eighteen. Old enough to die but apparently not old enough to lead. 

“Those people are crazy for following around a bunch of kids. Like hell I will let this little girl take over my bo—“ as his rant continued Alicia covered her ear with a pillow. There was no need to hear whatever else they needed to say. They were going to listen to Strand. They were going to pick up their guns—and they were going to attack. 

They were going to attack.

And they were going to loose.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you haven't noticed by now this completely takes a spin away from Fear The Walking Dead, they get to Strand's boat, but Strand is a moron. A calculated moron. If you're not a fan of straying away from the ordinary, and the canon, this fic will definitely not be for you.
> 
>  
> 
> Also as for CLEXA. This fic is long. Clarke and Lexa will be together, and it will happen, and they will be central characters but this is the preface to getting to where they are so buckle up and enjoy the ride. 
> 
> Thanks for reading my late night babbles.

The small plane rattled as Harper held the controls a bit shaken up by the thought of having to hover a few inches above a boat while the Captain hopped out, rappelled into its bow, and then was tossed about 20, 50 pound, bags of supplies and god knows how many cases of water. The blonde girl was starting to sweat and Miller’s incessant rants about how to best fend off a hundred walkers or so made the girl want to take the plane for a dip into the ocean. Captain Charlie laughed and did her best to keep the boy entertained—but once in a while would stop, touch Harper’s shoulder, and give her a much needed reassuring nod. “Captain, I have visual of the Abigail, dead ahead at 12 o clock” The girl’s voice was shaky as ever. “I am preparing to drop down a few feet to give you better footing”

“Alright, now look here, you don’t need to drop much more than four or six feet. I have a long rope and don’t mind heights” Charlie smiled checking her safety buckles and straps. Harper was a great pilot but was very shaky when scared. Miller came to sit at the back of the plane with a smile. He was going to hand off the supplies to Charlie and both open and close the plane’s door. “Get on the speaker and announce yourself. We don’t want them to get spooked. Miller, my boy, lets get me ready for the drop”

“Aye Captain” Came the uniform reply.

“Stay strong” The Captain spoke again and then began to ready herself for departure. She had very little clue that inside the boat they had already prepared for her arrival and had their guns aimed steady at the incoming plane.

“Hello this is Major Harper Phillips and Seargent Major Gunther Miller from the Ark Station off the coast of Los Angeles acquiring permission for landing. If this is the Abigail please turn on your radio to the specific channel discussed in our debriefing” Harper turned the little knob on the plane’s radio to Channel 33 and waited for contact. A harsh, male, voice barked back.

“This is Victor Strand. Send down your Captain. Leave all weapons behind”

“Jesus where’s that girl we were contacting. I like her better” Miller said with a scowl. “We should turn around Captain this seems unsteady”

“No. This is a rescue. Alicia already warned me about Strand. I’ll go down and leave my weapon behind. I have a knife in my leg holster that he probably doesn’t know holds more than a pistol, and Raven and O are right behind us” Charlie smiled a wide smile. She cracked her knuckles, making Harper cringe, and then her neck. “Okay, I’m a go as soon as you’re positioned Major Phillips”

“Then may we meet again Captain” Harper said, steadying the plane, hovering above the plane and doing her best to stay steady. The captain checked the hook attached to the plane one more time, Miller opened the door, and she jumped. The descent was quick enough to startle the people on the boat who held guns aimed at various parts of her body. The landing was rough since she overestimated how much her bum arm would be needed to break before she hit the ground. She almost fumbled when she caught the duffle bag Miller threw at her holding her personal items. She smirked studying the tired faces around her knowing they would be fine additions to the Ark—their guns were, at least, aimed steady. They needed more people with wit. More soldiers. 

“Hello Abigail. I take it you are not going to let me talk first”

“Hands in the air, drop the bag” Strand said unfastening the safety clip on his rifle. Charlie laughed and kept her bag at her side.

“No way” She said coolly. “And not to sound presumptuous but you might want to put down your weapons” Charlie said and watched as Chris threw his down and said something along the lines of ‘fuck this’. The boy was followed by Travis and Nick. The last three adults kept theirs aimed high. Charlie sighed. “Okay, I warned you” she smiled broadly and shrugged her shoulders, letting the bag drop to her feet. From behind her the group spotted the silver Cobra and took steps back as it approached with its guns ready to fire. Raven’s voice filled the air around them in a way that made her seem omnipresent. 

“Well, well, what do we have here?” She asked and Charlie felt her grin. “Let it go Strand or you’ll be floating to Mexico in a plank of wood” Ofelia’s dad threw his weapon aside and started to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Madison let hers drop to the side and Strand stepped in closer.

“What are you doing?” The blonde shouted. “Stop it. Victor this was a stupid plan, if she wanted this ship she clearly could have taken it”

“Nobody threatens my ship with warplanes”

“We warned you fuckers” Came another voice from the plane. Charlie felt it coming. Octavia’s caffeine fueled rage. O fired a warning shot missing the boat by at least five feet with a RPG that made the ocean shake violently. Everyone held on to something and Strand, focused on shooting her head off, fell on his back. The man watched in horror as his rifle slid over to Charlie who seemed completely fine steadying herself using only the strength of her legs. The Captain, then, took the gun and tossed it overboard. 

 

“Are we done?” She asked as the boat started to settle. Her voice was calm but authoritative non the less. Everyone, except for Strand who was still laid out on his back, shook their heads in agreement. “Good” she said a bit breathless, not because of the situation, but because the wind was knocked out of her by an oncoming blur. Everyone had been so frantic they had not seen Alicia dart from the hull of the ship onto the bow’s platform. She threw herself into Charlie’s arms and rested her head in the crook of her neck. Charlie noticed that her shirt became wet with tears. Alicia was crying. She turned around and practically yelped at the people standing and watching their interaction. Her mom and Travis had picked up their guns and aimed it at Charlie.

“What the fuck is wrong with you people?!” Her voice had been so loud it tore through the air like a bullet. “Not everybody is trying to fucking kill us” Charlie continued to hold her and froze as her head burrowed, once again, into her chest. This made the blonde drop her gun. 

“Alicia is right” Madison said and pushed the barrel of Travis’ gun down. “I’m sorry Charlie”

“Are you okay?” Alicia asked pulling away, checking her face momentarily, finding only a wild grin and pair of bicoloured eyes staring at her with longing. 

“I’ve never been better” Charlie flushed realizing she was still holding on to the girl. Alicia blushed too and she let go of the Captain but stayed close—steadying herself against Charlie’s arms. She noticed that her left arm felt weak. It trembled as though it was straining. 

“Miller we are ready for the drop” she said into her earpiece, and turned to the group with a calm smile as the skipper got even closer to the boat, so close they could clearly make out the shaky pilot and the boy who slid open the door with a great smile, “I need help getting the supplies on board.. any volunteers?” Chris stepped up and clapped her in the shoulder, Nick followed. They formed a line leading down to the cabin and waited as Miller started to throw down different labeled duffle bags. Mostly were labeled food, and medical, but some were labeled arsenal and they knew contained weapons. After what felt like a hundred bags started to come down the water. Miller threw down at least 30 packs of bulk waterbottles—the kind you’d find in superstores—and laughed as they struggled to pass them down the line. Charlie smiled as he gave her a shaky thumbs up. 

“Did you happen to catch any…” she started as another duffle flew at her face and she staggered back. “Thank you Miller”

“What’s that?” Chris asked curious as to why she struggled to catch it.

“Coffee, about 50 pounds of coffee” Charlie replied before she sent it down the line and watched as everyone struggled to pass it along. 

“See you in three days Captain Crunch” Raven’s voice was all around them. “Godspeed and try not to get yourself into trouble ” she added as the Cobra took off. 

“Thank you” Charlie said into her intercom. “May we meet again” she sent off the skipper as well and turned to face the crowd. Strand had joined them, reluctantly, and was now helping them take the supplies on board. Charlie took out her comlink and put it in her pocket. Chris had gotten her personal bag and gave it back to her with a sheepish, sorry. Alicia stood by her side holding a silver briefcase. 

“Welcome to the Abigail” the green eyed girl said leading Charlie into the common area. Charlie looked about and whistled. 

“Not so bad for stranded at sea… I thought the Abigail was a dinghy the way you people described it”

“The Abigail is beautiful” Strand said with a sour expression. “Who said I’d own anything so ugly? They can feel free to swim back to the Ark”

“Now what Captain?” Nick asked ignoring Strand. Madison had taken it upon herself to start organizing the countless bags. Charlie put her personal belongings down next to a leather couch.

“You guys have some lunch while I try and fix your transmission” She smiled and reached for a bag marked ‘tech’ with silver duct tape on the handles. “I’d love the company Chris, I heard you get bored a lot, how about we do a little intro to being a ship’s tech specialist”

“I’m coming too” Strand said with a sour face, and the three of them, lead by Alicia with the briefcase disappeared into the cabin where aside from a wheel that was in tact everything else seemed tattered. “Alicia can help her mother with the bags” He commanded and the girl looked livid. “Too many cooks in the kitchen don’t make a good stew” the man said and the girl practically shoved the briefcase into his chest. It would have torn him in half had she been any stronger. She was cross.

“Well Jack did a number on this ship, can you please go get any other bag with a silver handle? They most likely say tech on them” Charlie said and the boy nodded. “Strand, sir, I’m sorry to be such a threat. I’d love for you to help me steer you to safety. This is your boat. I’m your skipper as soon as we are headed to safety” she said extending a hand. “Why don’t we start this over?”

“Okay” Strand said and took her hand and studied her for what seemed like ages. 

“Pleasure to meet you” she said and Chris returned with two more bags. 

“Sorry for pointing my gun at you. Lets get to work.” Strand said with a nod stepping aside so that the girl could reach the control panel.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know people as a whole aren't partial to original characters. Also larger than life original characters as protagonists; but Charlie is special to me, and I don't regret telling a story from the perspective of someone who is loosely based on two of the best people in my life so... 
> 
> Also. I am going to keep uploading chapters as I edit or go over them. I wrote these mostly at like 1am, sometimes after going out for drinks, so I don't even know what's going on half the time and I'm surprising myself as I go.

“This is crazy stuff” Chris said as he worked untangling some wires, Charlie had taken the entire panel apart, and also had taken liberty of pilfering the flatscreen from the common area and mounting it on the wall adjacent to the wheel. Music was softly playing in the background, coming from the soundbar Raven had been sure to put in one of the techbags. Strand had gotten bored, tired of listening to what he referred to as teenage trap music, and left. At some point Madison had brought them each a snack bar and water; yet Charlie’s still laid on top of the four empty tech bags in a corner, since she was utterly focused on following the instructions Monty had given them. Perfectionism had its flaws. Not eating for hours on end was one of them. Nick had even taken refuge in the mess of wires—with the instruction manual on his lap—barking out orders whenever he could. Alicia sat quietly doing her best to help untangle the wires. Both her and Charlie took every moment to study each other quietly without making it seem obvious. Charlie’s breath got caught in her lungs when their eyes met and she turned quickly to Nick who looked as though he was stranded in the sea without a boat.

“Okay, did you read the next section?” Charlie said turning to him and he gave her a thumbs up. 

“Yep. Says here we have to connect the green wire thingy to the back of the TV using the HDMI adaptor thing that looks like a bomb cable” Chris laughed at the boy’s puzzled expression . “I’m so fucking lost” he looked about at the mess of wires. 

“Okay, well the green wire is there… Chris grab the chord use the wire splitter to attach the HDMI ending to it, here” she handed Chris a little kit. “Follow the instructions in the back. I need to get some air and maybe finally eat a bit of my lunch” she grabbed her waterbottle and Cliff bar and headed out of the cabin into the ship’s upper landing. “Want to join me in my welcoming feast?” she called to Alicia. The girl smiled. 

“Only if you give me half your chocolate chip bar”

“Deal” Charlie said as the girl caught up to her and they leant against the deck’s metal railing. Charlie flushed as her fingers accidentally made contact with Alicia’s hand. She handed her the cereal bar and watched as the girl took a bite and handed it back. Aside from the constant feeling as though her stomach was going to lurch into the ocean Charlie felt completely at ease. 

“So are you ever going to take out that bulletproof vest or are you planning on getting shot today?” Alicia smirked and Charlie looked down at her vest sheepishly. She didn’t even notice she had kept it on. In fact she didn’t know how she was going to take it off. Octavia and Raven had helped her put it on. Because of her medical impairment in the last few days she was still a little sore. By this time in the day her arms barely extended over her head which meant the vest would stay on, at this time, for what seemed like forever. 

“I’m a queer girl on a boat with an angry guy with a gun. I’m keeping my vest on” she said coyly wishing she was just strong enough to tell the girl the truth. Alicia laughed. 

“This isn’t a TV drama Charlie… you’re safe, trust me… this wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you’re still sore from your secret meeting with The Coast Guard would it?” The green eyed girl sounded concerned. Charlie shrugged. “Yeah. Raven and I talked a little last night. She told me you were tough enough to be stupid enough to believe you don’t need help. Well… I just have to say I’m enough of a bitch to tell you how silly you’re being and that if you do need help, I’m your girl”

“I might need some help. I hurt myself getting down on your boat” Charlie said looking out into the ocean. “But even if you wanted to help. I’m tall. I can’t really reach over my head right now”

“So kneel” Alicia said with a smile. “Here” The girl didn’t ask for permission before she turned Charlie around and started undoing the hidden buckles on the vest. Charlie got down on both knees and blushed furiously as the girl pulled the vest, by their thick shoulderstraps, over each shoulder like a pool floatie. Alicia tossed it aside and put out a hand to help Charlie up. In a fit of, slight, madness the tall girl took Alicia’s hand on her own and kissed it before she got up. The only thing keeping her from exploding was the obnoxious snort she heard from the cabin. 

“Her girl? What’s this already proposing to my sister and you haven’t even saved us?” Nick approached the pair with a shit eating grin that would have made Raven proud. He stole Charlie’s cereal bar and finished it, also helping himself to her water, while Alicia rolled her eyes and pretended to be watching the waves to hide her furious blushing. 

“So you’re saying I can propose to her if I save you?”

“If you get us out of here… you don’t even have to propose… she’s all yours for the taking”

“How charming…” Charlie smirked, “I’d take my chances with her consent thank you very much”

“Oh quite the gentleman” Nick mocked the girl and gave his sister a wink. Alicia was about ready to throw herself from the boat when they heard a loud yelp.

“I did it you fuckers!!!” Chris shouted turning down the music. The trio ran back into the cabin and did their best to take their previous places amongst the wires. “Look at this fucking thing. I think its working”

“Awesome” Alicia gave the kid a thumbs up and picked up the instruction booklet. Nick made himself busy by untangling a little bit more of the wire. 

“Now we plug it in and then have to reattach the actual board. Then it should pretty much work and we will have telecommunication with the Ark” Alicia smiled, “I mean there is a ton of steps in between but Monty labeled this so even morons could do it” she said, both Nick and Chris sneered back at her, Charlie laughed. “What? I didn’t say you were morons… I was just saying, you guys aren’t exactly tech nerds”

“You are the best of morons. All fine boat engineers are” Charlie said with a proud smile. Chris got up, attached the cable, and got back to work on the rest of the wiring with a triumphant grin. Nick sat back down and yawned. Charlie worked on putting the transmission table back together. “Now comes the hard part” she said as Chris helped her place the large panel back in its place. The boy sniggered. “You’re laughing but Monty can be a real geek and his verbal instruction skills are as terrible as Strand’s map readings” she said and together the pair started to rescrew the panels. “Here’s to hoping we don’t have to learn Japanese any time soon”

By the afternoon’s end they had a new transmission system and full access to Ark Technology. Chris helped as much as he could before he fell asleep reading Monty’s other manual to coding in the corner. Charlie sat on the captain’s chair and did her best to stay awake, and working, as Alicia and Nick were called to help their mother out with something. Charlie sat reading the map on the flat screen trying to map the closest way to the Ark. At any time Monty would be popping onto the screen to check in. She better have had something figured out. They stopped moving the boat in order to conserve fuel. Her head was pounding as she jotted down as many different calculations as her brain would allow. She hated doing math. But being a savant had given her an advantage to the whole Captain thing. She never needed help making plans. Her brain was enough for two. 

She was almost at her wits end when the mapped screen came to life. She smiled, not bothering to look up, and said “So glad you decided to join me Mr Green… I was beginning to suspect you were not back from having your little romp with Mr. Jacobson in the janitor’s closet in the third level and I would have to map myself a course back to the ship”

“By the time I’m done with you Charles you won’t have the strength to map” A serious voice called back making Charlie jump from her chair. “And shut it Reyes it is not sexual I was almost her mother for Christ’s sake. What are you thinking Charles Mason? You’re barely fit to walk nevermind run a rescue operation. I did not clear you for this” Abby looked livid. Charlie swallowed. Check. 

“Under extreme circumstances the Captain of the ship is allowed to overturn a decision made by a medic—“ Checkmate, almost.

“I will sink that boat myself if you finish that sentence Captain” The woman said raising her eyebrow. “You used to be so good. Clarke had to teach you how to be impertinent” She said and her voice softened at the mention of her daughter. “You had no right to” She snapped. Charlie bit her lower lip and tried not to look like a hurt puppy.

“Had no right to what?” Alicia entered the cabin with a puzzled look on her face. She held an apple on her right hand and a steaming mug of something on the other. Abby caught sight of the girl and shook her head—smiling at herself—she did tell Charlie Clarke would have wanted her moving on. The brunette in front of the camera was exactly what the doctor had ordered. Alicia had showered. She had on a grey tank and pair of jean shorts. Charlie’s breath got caught in her throat and she did her best to cross her legs and stifle a gasp. “What did you do?” She said turning to Charlie and handing her the mug.

“Thank you” 

“Charlie wasn’t medically cleared for this mission. Monty was supposed to be there. I already took care of him. Charlie never came to ask me if I had any restrictions and is…”

“Breaking protocol” Charlie spoke with Abby and took a long drink. Abby sighed. No point in arguing with crazy. “Are you okay?” She continued. Charlie nodded. “Any pains. Miller said your landing was stiff and that you were helping unload the plane. That is a lot of movement. You should expect some stiffness”

“With those good sea tiddies yeah she should expect loads of stiffness” came a raspy voice from somewhere outside the camera. Abby Griffin, the best neurosurgeon in the planet since the guy who discovered synapses, rubbed the bridge of her nose and did her best not to laugh. “Jesus Alicia Clark, you’re a crumpet, be careful you have a raging Brit next to you, and you know the British love their crumpets” Lies. American lies. Thanks to globalization the British did find such a thing called an Oreo. Charlie would have much rather have those. Also she lived in California. 

“O… focus, Dr. Griffin is ripping her a new one, we’ll talk about this later” Charlie could hear Raven’s whispers and blushed. 

“Hi guys” Alicia said coolly taking a bite of the apple. 

“Charlie” Abby continued once the whispering died down. “Reyes informed me she packed your pills in your bag last night after you left them on your bedside table. I would really be ripping you a new one if you had forgot them. You can’t wean yourself off cold turkey or you’ll die. Take three of them a day for now until you return. It’s a lower dosage so you might already feel certain… symptoms” Charlie looked down at her pants for a second before she remembered to try and uncross her legs. She shivered feeling herself get a little too excited and forgot she had on compression shorts. A gift to all intersex female kind. Alicia’s shampoo was so intoxicating she practically wanted to die. She cleared her throat and did her best to nod attentively. “How is your arm?”

“Good” Charlie lied with a smile. 

“Not true” Alicia said taking another bite of her apple with a smirk.

“Have you been able to lift them over your head at all?”

“Yes” Charlie lied again. Alicia gave her a side glance and shook her head no. 

“Charles”

“Dr. Griffin I am perfectly capable of lifting my arms. I am fine and ready for this. I will be seeing you in three days”

“I helped her take her vest off” Alicia shrugged. 

“Are you seriously tattling right now?” Charlie turned to her and then immediately away. The way the girl held herself on the chair was too much. She knew she was due for a dose of the suppressants because she couldn’t think straight. “You want to see me murdered don’t you?” This made Alicia laugh. 

 

“Just make sure you take your pills. Don’t kill yourself and please, please, try and get a good night’s rest. You are weak Charlie. You’re not a weak person but you are seriously weak. I suggest you drink a protein shake and try and get your iron up. Take two iron tabs in the med kit. If you were here you’d be hooked up to an IV. I can’t let you kill yourself slowly…unfortunately I like you too much” Abby smiled. “Kane says his hellos and I’ve kicked his ass already for not telling me about his knowing of your plans. Your father thinks I’ve cleared you so don’t worry you won’t be hearing anything from him”

“Thank you Dr—sorry—Mrs.Griffin, mom” Charlie said with a small and sheepish smile. 

“Also if you for some reason didn’t get your pills check the blue medkit in your personal bag” Reyes popped her head into the screen. “It’s… backup” she winked. Charlie shuddered at the thought of what it could be. Last time she had gone on vacation with Clarke; Raven had packed them thirty bottles of lube as backup… she didn’t know what for, but when those bottles scattered across the floor of LAX, she wanted nothing more than to cover herself in its contents and slide down into a crevice somewhere and never be found again. “So, Alicia what do you think? She’s a tall drink of water isn’t she?” Dr. Griffin shook her head and took a minute to say: 

“I’ll check on you kids later” 

“Hey sexy let’s get back to that conversation where you tell me what you think about el Capitan?”

“Guys. Seriously this feed is recorded into the Ark’s mainframe. Your kids could possibly see this someday”

“Good. Let them know that their aunty Charlie was and will always be our little heartthrob”

“So good in fact that we told a bunch of people we knew outside of the Ark she was a backup for one of those twinks in One Direction” Octavia laughed. “They took pictures with her and had them sign their tiddies”

“Jesus please stop” Charlie looked over only to see Alicia with a facetious smirk on her face. She turned back to her calculations and ignored the pair of girls on the screen trying to ignore whatever conversation they had started. It was nighttime before Monty showed up looking quite sorry. Charlie still didn’t have a plan aside from turning the boat around toward the Ark. Alicia sat with her the whole time. It was nearly midnight when Charlie got up from the chair and the feed to the Destroyer was cut out. She walked out into the deck and took a small breath. Her shoulder was throbbing and her tired eyes scanned over the waves. She let out a small yawn and covered her mouth for a moment. She didn’t notice Alicia had joined her until a soft hand was placed upon her shoulder. Charlie covered up a little pained yelp with a laugh.

“You should go to sleep” Alicia said taking her hand and leading her to the seat on the deck. Charlie noticed her beautiful legs were covered in small goosebumps. The girl shuddered as she sat down against the cold leather. “You look tired”

“I’m steering tonight until dawn” Charlie said with a small smile. It felt weird to talk to Alicia face to face. Not too long ago she had been just a voice on the radio, an ephemeral image in a dream, an angel really—that Charlie spoke to every day and poured her heart until she was bare. Charlie looked out into the ocean and tried to appear stoically. Alicia watched her too close for comfort.


	12. Chapter 12

“I think they’re going to fuck” Chris said with a wide grin on his face. “It might not be now. It might not be tomorrow. But they are going to fuck, hard” He could not help but laugh as Nick tried his best to lounge at him and cover his mouth. Chris just shook him off and sat down in the lower deck watching the waves cascade around the ship. “Have you checked on Ofelia? She’s been sleeping for quite a while”

“Well we ran out of Tylenol before the Captain arrived with all sorts of goodies… she took a dose of the PM ones right before Charlie arrived. Slept through us getting shot at and everything. Anyway… look what I managed to get out of Strand’s quarters tonight” He said and stood up, opening the compartment under his seat, and unveiling what looked like a very large beige burrito. He unraveled the package and saw Chris’ jaw drop as two bottles of very expensive tequila rolled onto the leather couch. “I figure we should celebrate our victory and toast to the captain!” He said and lifted the bottle towards the upper deck. Chris looked up and watched Alicia and Charlie sit horribly close together, their lips moving in enthralling conversation, the green eyed girl’s laughter cutting through the night like a siren. “Stop it Chris people are going to think you’re into incest”

“Ew no way. I like girls with a little more body than Alicia… she’s a noodle… and she’s my sister, at least I think of her that way” He stole one of the bottles from Nick and stared at it closely. “I’m just surprised she likes girls is all. She didn’t seem gay at all”

“You live in LA Chris” Nick said with a shrug. “Alicia dated a girl for three years before Matt. My mom and I thought they were going to get married”

“What happened?”

“The girl moved. Disappeared really. Didn’t even say goodbye”

“Jesus they say guys are assholes” Chris smirked. “Look. How about we take these bottles and head to the upper deck. We will all drink. We will have a fun ass night and the Captain will totally nail our sister”

“Bro I think you need to cool off. Take a shower” Nick said with an air of feign disgust. The boy frowned as the older boy laughed and walked towards the side stairwell. “Coming kid?” He asked, not bothering to turn around, “Four of us cant get drunk out of one bottle” and climbed up the stairs with a facetious smile on his face. He was ready to raise some hell. 

Chris was way ahead of him.

“Lovebirds, can we come up?” He asked and watched as Charlie and Alicia looked at each other for a moment and both turned a radiant pink. 

“Shut up Chris” Alicia said. But it was too late. The two boys had made it to the upper deck and held the bottles in the air like a prize. The pair shifted uncomfortably away from each other and Chris slid in between them. Nick tossed the bottle at Charlie who held it and shook her head no. Alicia looked up at her brother disapprovingly.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“Loosening you lovebirds up” Nick said with a little smirk.

“For mating” Chris laughed. Alicia rolled her eyes and Charlie buried her head in her hands trying to hide a mean blush. The boy noticed the action and put a friendly arm around Charlie. “I mean getting it on with each other” he did his best British accent which made Charlie laugh. It was terrible. 

“Even if we were at home, safe, I wouldn’t be caught dead drinking Tequila with my brothers” Alicia said with a hint of disgust, “Besides Charlie is steering the boat tonight”

 

“No she isn’t”.

\---

 

Ofelia finally stepped out into the night. She had gotten herself put together to meet the captain and smiled at the sight of the group sitting on the deck. Various greetings followed from the group but Charlie was the only one to stand. Nick gave Charlie a look but was coaxed to back down by his sister who realized the Captain was just acting like the perfect gentleman. The two buffoons next to her would know nothing about this sort of behaviour. Charlie, however, did and she walked up to the girl as gracefully as she could and extended her hand. “You must be Ofelia” she said with a friendly smile, “You sure can sleep through a lot”

“Well my idiot boyf—Nick” she stammered and Alicia eyed her brother with a facetious smirk. “Gave me some pain medicine and told me it would make me slightly drowsy… I had no idea he meant he gave me nighttime medicine. Anyway, Captain, Madison and Strand told me that tonight and tomorrow you should have the day off. They were worried about your sleeping and ability to steer after not sleeping for a few days. Apparently Dr. Griffin gave them a warning about your serious procedure and thought it best for you to sleep”

“Great” Charlie sighed, “So… we’re going to be travelling tonight because I have three days to get us back. The Coast Guard gave me three days of safe passage”

“Yes. A boy called Monty also called in not too long ago while you two were out here making cute faces at each other, and he spoke to Madison. Said you were given an extra two days. Raven and Octavia led another negotiation with them”

“No” Charlie spoke under her breath. The nape of her neck was covered with gooseflesh. I’m the Captain, I negotiate. I put my life on the line for them, not the other way around. Her skin crawled thinking of the memory, the loud noise of a drill bit, a faint recognizance of her own muffled screaming. “No. We can’t… we have to keep moving tonight. I made a plan” It hadn’t occurred to her that she was no longer in the command center and that these people had very little reason to listen to her. To them she was a strange enigma, a kid, a person who happened to control a really big ship. She sighed and looked at Alicia for support. Alicia bit down on her lower lip and gave her an apologetic shrug. She’s so damn cute. Shut your mouth. I wonder how it would feel to bite her lower lip like that. Her thoughts were snapped away as Ofelia spoke. She listened with a hazy head.

“Sorry. Strand took the boat key and locked the cabin. Your stuff is out in the common room and I think they’re preparing to make that your cabin”

“No way. The TV is in there” Chris protested.

“She can sleep in our room” Alicia said at the same time. Nick sniggered. Her room had two beds. 

“With your or Ofelia?” Nick said and gave his sister a wink. She looked murderous. 

“Maybe she can have Ofelia’s bed at night since she seems to be in yours Nick” Alicia said with a raised eyebrow. Charlie and Chris both watched the deck’s floor with great curiosity. Ofelia’s mouth hung open for a second before Nick laughed. 

“Touché Lady Windsor” He received a great shove from the girl. Ofelia sighed.

“You’ll get used to them. We all had to” She said and touched Charlie’s arm with her good side. She grimaced a bit and Charlie gave her an apologetic smile before she sighed. “I know you’re upset about the mission. But you have to take care of yourself too. I’ve heard, well overheard, some of your stories. You are the hero they dreamed of. But even heroes die when they let hubris take control of their actions. Don’t die trying to be a hero, you’ve already done that, tonight is about new begginnings” Ofelia spoke lightly and Charlie felt soothed. Ofelia reminded her of Anya. One of the commanders she grew up with in the Ark. She barely knew Charlie , yet, everything she had said made sense.

“I know. I just want to get you to safety” she said in a half lie. She was mostly concerned with what Raven and Octavia had traded for two days safe passage. Everything came with a price. She just hoped it didn’t cost them their health, or worse, their dignity. 

“And you will” Ofelia said. “But tonight we are going to drink some tequila… and you are going to kiss…that…girl” she said dragging out the last words and laughing. She blushed noticing that Alicia was still staring at her despite everything else. 

“Let’s take care of that bullet first”

“No” Ofelia said. “No way. I can handle having this thing lodged in for a few more days until we get to some morphine” She said and led Charlie to the rest of the crowd, sitting her down, almost forcefully, next to Alicia. Charlie laughed as she stole the bottle from Chris, opened it, and took a large swig. “To a safe passage on our travels, until our final journey, to dry…” she made a large emphasis on the dry giving Charlie a wink, “ground”

“Cheers” Charlie said as she was passed the very large bottle of the clear liquid. She took a rather large swig herself and did her best to not cringe at the taste. She wasn’t much of a drinker. A few beers here and there, a glass of wine perhaps when in a meeting with the Chancellor or his viceroys, but never hard liquor—not since Clarke’s death. But tonight was a night of new beginnings according to Ofelia. Who was she to question that resolve. Especially when Alicia’s lingering gaze kept testing the small dosages of the suppressants Abby had been giving her. Liquor would do it. Liquor could keep things from getting too hot. She could save herself the embarrassment of having to explain to everyone how she ended up with… that… down there. 

“Jesus relax Captain” Nick said. “Don’t get too drunk or you’ll end up in bed with Chris instead of Alicia” Nick said as his sister too the bottle and flipped him off as she took a large swig too. Chris laughed and blushed furiously. The drinking continued on the deck as the boat sat upon the waves. When a particularly large wave hit Alicia steadied herself by holding on to Charlie’s thigh and her body shuddered with the contact. She thought about taking a second dose of the suppressants—but by the time they had made it inside the common area, as a light summer rain fell upon the dark sea, her mind lingered elsewhere. Specifically it settled on watching the slender girl whose green eyes burned through the night like wildfire. 

“We should put on a movie” Ofelia suggested. She held a copy of what looked like a bad ocean film in her hands. “See its… umm… called Poseidon. It’s a thriller about a large ship that capsizes due to a huge mega tidal wave”

“Yeah no I prefer not to think about my imminent death, thanks, we have enough of that to go around these days” Alicia laughed. Charlie sat down on the comfortable couch and Alicia sat next to her. Her long legs draped over Charlie covered by a soft blanket. Under the blanket the green eyed girl kept one hand resting by her side—Charlie could feel her touch every time she shifted her arms, and she as not sure if it was the girl, or the drink but it took all she had to keep herself from getting excited. This will only get worse. Soon you won’t have any more pills. Soon you’ll have to deal with how unnatural your body really is. Soon. The idea kept popping in her head and she allowed the haze of the alcohol take over her and drown her slowly. She knew better than to drink any more but wanted to get rid of the slow burning ache coming from deep within her. She wanted to stop herself from feeling so warm. 

“Let’s play some music” Chris suggested and helped himself to the small, silver, macbook in Charlie’s bag. “Passcode? Jesus that’s awfully fucking British” He asked and blinked as Charlie looked at him curiously then said very clearly.

“ClarkeGriffinOwnsThisDick” she said stoically and blinked a few times. Nobody spoke. Nobody said a thing. Charlie held a laugh in. “Every word is capitalized and no spaces”

“Clarke” Chris started to type and speak out loud.

“There’s an e at the end of her name” Charlie accepted the bottle from Nick who was giggling silly. 

“G-R-I-F-F-I-N” he typed loudly and a resonating snort came out of Ofelia who was holding in a laugh.

“Owns, this, dick” Chris said the last few words as they all burst into laughter. Clarke had changed her passcode and she had never bothered to change it back. Everyone in the Ark had their own computer, their own tablet, their own phone. There was no need to share passcodes. Because dating was, while they were growing up, highly discouraged and suppressants were given to teenagers to reduce unwanted population growth—nobody shared space like Clarke and Charlie did. Clarke stopped taking her suppressants the day her father died, as an act of rebellion, she wanted to feel. Charlie stopped taking them, only for a while, because Clarke wanted her to feel too. Clarke wanted her to feel with her. Clarke wanted to feel, her. She smiled at the distant memory and allowed herself a momentary pause to grief the loss of the girl who had taught her life was about more than just survival—she taught her that it was okay to like music, art, dance and to live thinking about other people’s lives—Clarke was also the first girl to accept her body without questions. Clarke loved her and she did, indeed, own that dick. She still did. Even after her death.

“Wow someone was a little possessive” Nick said with a small grin. “For a captain it seemed like this girl ran your ship, kid”

“She did” Charlie said with a faint blush. “She might have been the Chancellor and had very little to do with military tactics but she did in fact run the whole ship. You would have liked her a lot better than me… she was fun”

“She was fucking hot” Chris said as he clicked and clacked away at something. “Look” he turned the computer around so that everyone saw the background of a golden haired, cerulean eyed, girl who stood next to Charlie. It was Charlie’s induction day and she had on her captain’s uniform, and a crimson and red sash she rarely wore anymore, that resembled her status as the Duke of Albany. The girl stood in a navy blue dress that hugged her perfectly. Together they looked like a force to be reckoned with. Dr. Griffin and the new Chancellor, then Commander, Kane stood to Clarke’s left and Charlie’s two dads… one in a slightly more decorated uniform, the other in a elegant tuxedo, stood next to Charlie’s right and her brother at the end holding a large bottle of very pricey champagne. 

“Wow you guys look like you belong to the royal family” Ofelia said and Alicia snorted. Alicia knew more than they all did about Charlie. Charlie blushed as the girl whose legs carelessly draped over her lap leant forward and gave her a gentle arm squeeze under the covers. Charlie’s eyes couldn’t help but water at the picture. Clarke stared back with a smile that burnt her to the very core. 

“So music” Chris said after he allowed the group a chance to study the picture. “Aha” he fiddled with the computer until he found a folder. “What the fuck is this… mix one, edm mix one, raven’s birthday mix?”

“Oh no don’t those are just some things I fiddled with when I had the time” Charlie reached out but found that the tequila left her a bit immobile. Chris had already clicked away and music started to play. Those were mixes Charlie had made with Clarke. Clarke was a dj and taught her how to spin—every Friday in the Ark they would set up their sound system outside and throw a party for anybody over 15. She cringed as the music started to play but was content when Nick asked to turn the sound up and put the computer aside.

“Cool we have beats, and we had booze, and now all we need is a party game”

“Truth or dare” Chris said.

“This is not a high school party” Alicia said shaking her head. “I’m not doing this. I avoided every high school party ever just to play truth or dare at the end of the fucking world with my fucking siblings? No way. I’m out”

“Oh party pooper” Ofelia said taking a chaste sip of tequila. “My father never let me go to a party just give me this one gift”

“Giver her more tequila she needs more” Nick smirked. Charlie laughed. 

“I’ll go first” Charlie said and took the half empty second bottle from Nick. “Go ahead somebody do your worst…but not you Alicia because you know too much” Charlie allowed herself to give the girl one side glance without blushing furiously. Alicia’s cheeks were a little pink from the alcohol and she smirked back making Charlie’s knees weak. She was so beautiful. Charlie wished it was the alcohol talking but she was not nearly as drunk as she would have hoped to realize this. She just was.

“Fine. I’ll go… truth or dare Captain?” Chris asked.

“Truth” Charlie said turning to the boy. 

“Well that’s not fair…no that’s not fair I don’t know anything about you… nothing, you could be lying”

“Guess you’ll have to guess”

“You have to pick a dare”

“Fine then… dare” Charlie said coolly. Chris and Nick stared at each other for a second and then back at Charlie. “Oh no shit, no, this is bollocks you two are conspiring against me”

“You picked it”

“She picked truth” Alicia finally came to Charlie’s rescue. 

“Which is not fair so she has to do a dare” Ofelia smirked two reading the minds of the other two who looked ready to pounce.

“Its okay. Go ahead, I’m bulletproof” Charlie shrugged.

“Kiss Alicia” The boy said plainly. “I dare you to kiss my dear old new sister Alicia”

She was not bulletproof to that. Her cheeks grew flush and she forced herself to make eye contact with the girl for a second to try and read her thoughts. She swore her cheeks were flushed too. “Go ahead big captain… kiss the girl” Nick said with a smirk. “Or are you chicken”

“You, sir, seem to have trouble with consent” Charlie said facetiously trying to drag the topic away from the conversation. Everyone was drunker than she was. She knew it because Chris could barely sit straight and Nick held his eyes closed for most of the time they spoke. “I can’t just kiss a girl who doesn’t want to kiss me. I’m not some pervert” Charlie added with a small smile. 

“Who said she didn’t want to kiss you” Chris added raising an eyebrow. “Alicia would you do us the honour of kissing that prince to see if she turns back into a frog?” Nick laughed. Alicia didn’t say anything. She smiled and shook her head. Charlie was embarrassed enough as it was. The fact that the girl flat out refused the offer was slightly insulting but she wasn’t going to talk. 

“You guys are literally thirteen year olds” Alicia finally broke her silence. “Stop harassing her”

“Nobody is doing anything to her” Chris said with a laugh. 

“Its okay” Charlie did her best to keep her cool. She was used to worse teasing from Octavia and Raven, this didn’t bother her one bit, she was just nervous because she really wanted that kiss and wished she had the nerve to just do it. “They’re just trying to figure out whether I want to kiss you or not. That’s a stupid thing to ask really, I mean, who wouldn’t… Alicia is beautiful. I’d be ever so lucky” Charlie said holding back what could either be some nervous twitching or vomiting. The only saving grace she had was the look on Chris’ face. He looked astounded, dumbstruck, even that she would admit to this. Alicia covered her face with her hands hiding a very big smile while Ofelia and Nick just laughed.

“Wow. That was better than the kiss itself” Chris smiled. “Alicia your turn”

“Truth”

“Easy. Would you kiss Charlie?”

“Jesus Christ”

“Answer or take a drink”

“Give me the fucking bottle”

They went around in a circle asking each other the most ridiculous things. Within an hour they had finished both bottles and sat utterly wasted on the common room floor trying to come up with new things to do. Charlie stretched out between Alicia and Chris while Nick and Ofelia took a corner to themselves. Music was still blaring through the computer’s speakers and the group looked content. Charlie had her arm around Alicia who snuggled onto her with bright red cheeks. 

“You know you could have kissed me right?” Alicia spoke into Charlie’s ear. The Captain laughed and nodded a cool, yes. “Good just checking” the girl said still in a half whisper. Charlie didn’t dare look at her but felt a lazy smile spread across her face. Her cheeks felt insanely hot. So hot, in fact, that she didn’t feel the girl leave a chaste kiss upon them before she pulled away and sat back against the leather couch’s seat. Chris looked at Charlie with an I told you so face and just kept shaking his head.

“How come nobody dared me to kiss Ofelia?” Nick asked a little while later. Alicia rolled her eyes and Chris let out a snort. 

“Because that wouldn’t be shocking or exciting” Alicia said. “Nauseating perhaps… but I think that’s just because a beautiful girl would actually be trying to make out with you” she ended and gave Chris a high five over a laughing Charlie. Nick rolled his eyes. Ofelia laughed. 

“He’s my ugly teddy” She confessed. “Besides in this light he looks like a prince”

“That’s because the light’s been off for the entire night” Chris dogged Nick and received a well placed kick in the shin. 

“See Captain… slacking off isn’t so bad. You get to relax, sit with people your age, not worry about dying” Ofelia listed the things Charlie was least concerned about. But it did feel good to unwind. “You have a beautiful girl next to you, a little ugly troll to your side, what else could possibly be better?”

“We could be going for a swim” Charlie said thinking about it for a minute. Midnight swim. It was her favorite drunk thing to do. “But I suppose that would just be awkward when all of you drown because you’re toasted”

“Toasted?”

“Yep you are all wasted”

“Says the captain who an hour ago was blushing just looking at my sister, and now lays on her like they’ve been—“

“Nick” Ofelia slapped him gently. “Stop. Okay enough teasing on the Cap---“

“Shh” Chris said and moved quickly to put away the two bottles. The movement outside the door caused them to stare at each other with wide, guilty, grins. Charlie closed her eyes and allowed herself to rest into the gentle caressing of her hair Alicia kept gratuitously giving. 

“Bed time” Victor Strand said with a thick air of annoyance from outside the door. “Im not even going to open the door and see what you are doing in there. But it’s late and we are all really tired and would appreciate not hearing this chicken gabble”

“Chicken gabble” Charlie repeated. The group broke out in a silent fit of laughter.

“Lights out!” Came another voice. This time the group listened. Madison was clear and curt when it came to orders and even Charlie, who captained an entire destroyer, was quick on her feet. 

“You can sleep in Ofelia’s bed” Alicia said grabbing her hand and leading her towards the door. Ofelia and Nick shared a quick look and Chris pretended to throw up. 

“Looks like everyone is fucking but me” He stated and shrugged dispersing the area before anybody could say anything else. Charlie followed Alicia’s footsteps until she entered a small cabin. The dark haired girl laughed and pulled Charlie into the room slamming the door behind them. Charlie smiled and awkwardly took the bed nearest to the wall. She sat in it while Alicia headed into what looked like an awfully cramped bathroom. Taking off her combat boots, belt, and undoing her wavy tresses the Captain gave herself a moment to stretch out and stare at the stars from the small window. 

“There are dead stars that still shine because their light is trapped in time. Where do I stand in this light, which does not strictly exist” Charlie spoke softly allowing herself a moment to bask in the words she once read in Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis. She wiped a tear which formed in her eye and let out a soothing breath as her mind fluttered away to the sound of Clarke’s soft voice singing her to sleep. This is why she never really drank much. The husky sound of the blonde’s voice was everywhere. Her smile, her blonde tresses, everywhere. Charlie could not let go so easily when her body missed the thing it craved to be near most of all. 

The captain heard soft humming now coming from the bathroom. The noise pulled her out of her own thoughts and made her focus on the moment. She watched as Alicia came out wearing a large tee-shirt and pair of boy shorts humming some song Charlie couldn’t make out through the tequila haze. She watched as the girl scooted around the empty bed and made herself comfortable next to Charlie mumbling something about ‘my bed’. Charlie blushed. “Would you like me to move over?” She asked and Alicia’s green eyes opened just in time to enrapture her own. The girl lifted her soft hands to Charlie’s face and gave her the sweetest, most gentle, peck in the corner of her lips. 

“I want you to stay with me” Her voice was barely audible. Charlie smiled. 

“Okay”

“Okay” the brunette’s smile was bright enough to light a fire within the tall girl. She felt her body betray her again and wanted to run. She wasn’t ready to feel anything. That and the amount of tequila she drank made her quite unstable; but Alicia had trapped Charlie with her entire stringy body. Charlie thought about lifting her and moving to the empty bed but found the touch of another body so comforting. Her insides felt alight as the girl next to her, whose eyes were now closed and lips curled into a small smile, scooted closer and wrapped a warm blanket around them. There wasn’t much room for a 6’6 giant in the twin bed to sleep without touching the girl so she allowed her body to relax too. Relax just enough to not care that the boat she had specifically ordered to stay put until they had their strategy to get back to the Ark had started to move. She instead closed her eyes and followed Alicia’s constant, soft, breathing into sleep.

It was the best sleep she had gotten in months.


	13. Chapter 13

Alicia stirred in her sleep and woke up to find she had been enveloped in the strong arms of the young Captain she had never expected to meet. The sun was bright out and she allowed herself to stretch out in bed. She cared very little that her body was completely wrapped around Charlie’s. The girl looked like a marble statue asleep on her back, her grey tee-shirt riding up slightly so her deliciously toned lower half was on display, her stomach rising up and down with her rhythmic breathing. Alicia bit down on her lower lip lifting the shirt just a bit more to inspect the goods, and found that they were, indeed quite good. “Good morning Leeshy…” she heard the singsong voice say as a body dropped on the bed opposite hers. 

“Ofelia” She tried not to sound flustered. Charlie moved the hand around her body and pulled her closer with a mild yawn. The traitorous giggle that escaped her lips made Ofelia’s facetious smile grow with ammunition. “This is not what it looks like”

“Sure” The other girl said not making a big deal as Alicia made very little effort to escape Charlie’s comforting grip. She tried to look kind of shocked as her body betrayed her and decided to nestle in against the warm feeling of the tall girl behind her. Ofelia just shook her head as she watched Alicia’s internal struggle. 

“Seriously, Charlie passed out while I took a shower, I must have been drunk when I crawled in bed” Alicia grew a shade of pink. “I-“

“Look I’m not going to say anything. This is the end of the world. Our bodies want to be held, and nuzzled, and warmed by the heat of someone else” Ofelia shrugged. “And why not allow yourself to get close to someone so sweet” she ended and rolled onto her back, with some difficulty, and tried to close her eyes. “Everyone else is sleeping. Its only five thirty. I just wanted to come and finish my night up in my bed so my dad wouldn’t have a reason to kill your brother” She ended and her words caused a jolt from behind Alicia. She jumped as Charlie sat up as though she rose from the dead.

“Five thirty, bollocks, I’m fucking late” The girl nearly jumped out of bed. Alicia watched as she hurried to get both her shoes and belt back on. Her hair was everywhere and she struggled to put it back in a bun so she leant forward, gave it a good shake, and it fell back on her head looking absolutely flawless. “Monty is going to fucking kill me” she said with a sheepish smile. Alicia couldn’t help but stare at the creature as she rushed out of the room muttering whatever excuses she could give in order to excuse herself from any trouble with a toothbrush stuck in her mouth . In the rush she noticed that Charlie forgot to grab her laptop. Chris must have dropped it off last night while they slept which was just great. More witnesses to her most uneventful one night stand.

“Wow that was a quick walk of shame” Ofelia said and nestled into her bed. Alicia did too—just for a moment, and then kicking herself in the head for being so damn inquisitive, got up and dressed leaving to go meet the flustered captain in the quarters upstairs. She decided to put on coffee too just in case and was very happy the small kitchen was deserted. When she finally got around to meeting Charlie in the cabin she found it empty. Alicia looked out of the window and saw her staring longingly into the sunset. Her perfectly sculpted body glowed with the sunlight and , though her back was turned, it was clear that her smile was the brightest part of the entire scene. Alicia watched her from the door and couldn’t help but smile herself. 

“I don’t believe in a god. But I do believe the sun is the closest thing to a holy deity in our earth. She’s beautiful isn’t she ” Charlie didn’t look back. Her voice was quiet and captivating. Alicia shifted on her feet feeling the two coffee mugs get quite heavy. “Join me?” The girl said, turning around, her smile so bright Alicia couldn’t dare say no. 

“How did you know I was standing here?” She said walking towards the girl. She was glad Charlie accepted her coffee offer and gave her a grand smile. 

“I can always find my sunshine” she said and the sunlight hit her eyes. Alicia swallowed dryly and blushed furiously at the comment Charlie had made. She compared her to the most beautiful thing on the planet. Her favourite thing. She took in the tall girl’s pure gaze. She had always known Charlie’s eyes were two different colours. However she never noticed how brightly they shone even against the sun. The right one, an azure so pure it could blend into the morning sky, and the left a mint coloured green that ebbed and flowed into a seafoam green depending on how long you stared. This set against her caramel, golden, complexion was enough to make anybody weak in the knees. Alicia gasped slightly when Charlie’s eyes turned into her own and a small smile creped upon her face. 

“Sorry” she said quietly and drank her coffee looking out into the nothingness ahead. She felt Charlie stare at her for a few seconds then turn towards the sun. 

“There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope” Charlie quoted and took a drink of her own coffee. Alicia smiled and allowed them to soak in the silence again as the sun came up. “Bernard Williams, author of Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy” 

“How do you know everything about everything” Alicia couldn’t help herself. The Captain had literally been a Caltech nerd. Yet here she was quoting everything by everyone, all the time. 

“Photographic memory” Charlie replied. “I just see it once and there it is. That and I’ve been surrounded by book readers all my life you just pick up on bits and pieces”

“I mostly had Nick growing up so…”Alicia said with a shrug. 

“He was lucky to be surrounded by such perfection” Charlie said finishing her mug and giving herself the room to stretch out. Alicia stood watching her with a face so crimson she couldn’t even hide the fact that she was blushing furiously again. Charlie had a habit of doing that to her. She stared out into the sea and noticed something different. Something that wasn’t there before. She wanted to enjoy her moment but instead found that she dropped the mug and stood pointing wordlessly at the shape coming up towards them. She had a sudden flashback to Jack and being kidnapped from the Abigail and shook. 

“Alicia” She heard Charlie say as her mind drifted to dark, dark, places. “Alicia” 

“B….boat” she shivered. She didn’t know how she got to the floor, or into Charlie’s arms, but her head was taught against the warmth of her chest. Alicia closed her eyes and felt the quiet pitter patter of Charlie’s heartbeat. When she opened them again she noticed that Charlie scanned the area like a hawk, all while stroking her hair. 

“Its alright love, that was just a rock” she said with a smile. “Sunrise shifted its colour and it looked like it moved. Light tricks are awful at this time of day. Its really why the Titanic sank… the lights made it so that the watcher couldn’t see the iceberg, all he saw was the bright reflection of the sky” Charlie’s voice was soothing. It was if she knew her words were enough to calm down her erratic breathing. “When they were finally close enough to see the iceberg it was too late to steer the large ship away from it. We are lucky. We are still. Nobody is going to crash today” Alicia closed her eyes again as she felt Charlie press her warm lips on top of her head and hold it there for a few seconds. She held her until the shaking stopped.

“Charlie that rock wasn’t there yesterday” Alicia finally said as she relaxed. She noted that neither of them pulled from each other and let out a small, happy, sigh as her body settled back into the arms of the girl who so keenly studied her surroundings again. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. In fact I am fairly certain the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. If we were heading toward Hawaii yesterday we shouldn’t be standing at the front of the ship watching the sunrise” Alicia watched as Charlie’s expression went blank. She had missed something and Alicia knew it killed her. “Could we have been blown offcourse by rough winds”

“No. Nick and I lowered the anchor in the afternoon”

“Charlie I think Strand moved the boat last night” Her voice was deadpan. 

“He wouldn’t do that. We didn’t have enough fuel to get back to the Ark as it was… he’s not stupid enough to think he could have gotten to Mexico” Her voice trailed off. She was thinking. Alicia bit down on her lower lip in concentration. “He would think that wouldn’t he?” 

“I’m not an expert on maps or boats” Alicia turned to look at Charlie and became hyper aware of how close they were. “But I think so”. Charlie’s smile was unnerving and Alicia desperately wanted to lean over and break the tension between them. However she had vowed that she would never again allow herself to be so vulnerable. 

“Right” Charlie spoke bringing her back to reality. Alicia moved to get up and found that her body seemed to hate her for taking away the one comfortable moment she had. Even if it had been brought on by a panic attack. She was helped to her feet and saw that Charlie had been covered in the coffee she spilled. “I’m going to have to contact Monty and see if he can track us. It shouldn’t be hard. But if Strand did move the boat I might have to tie him up”

“Its too early for kinks” Alicia spoke back. “Why don’t you go shower and I’ll contact the Ark” she politely gestured towards the coffee stain down Charlie’s shirt and pants. For a moment she was ready to hear about how she couldn’t do such a task on her own and found Charlie’s pensive face way too familiar. It was the look everyone gave her whenever she wanted to help. Charlie’s words, however, were much different than the ones she had imagined her saying. She nodded agreeing to the plan and then spoke sweetly.

“Sorry I was seeing if I could come up with a pun for the fact you just spilled coffee on me”

“And how did that work out for you?” Alicia couldn’t smile brighter. Charlie wasn’t deciding between giving her a task or not. She was just trying to be a flirty dork. 

“Okay…” Charlie shrugged and started to walk away. Before she got to the door she turned around with the biggest of smiles and said coolly, “Instead of telling you my joke I’ll leave you with dis-stain” she said with a wink pointing to the wet spots of her clothes. Alicia rolled her eyes and frowned, “What’s with the mean mug? Got a latte on your mind?” 

“Stop it”

“What’s Sumatra with you?”

“Go away”

\----  
Charlie returned in an outfit Alicia did not expect to find. She wore a very fitting pair of khaki chinos, pale blue short sleeve button down shirt with a darker sailboat pattern (of course she would roll up her sleeves a bit more to show off those toned arms), and a pair of boat shoes. The shirt had been lazily tucked in and the dark brown braided belt she wore gave her just the edge she needed to look like she belonged in the yacht. Her hair had been washed and was held back by a pair of steel rimmed aviators. Alicia was not ready for that look. She was definitely not ready for how intoxicating Charlie’s cologne? perhaps, was. “Wow, did you get these coordinates up? Is that a trajectory scan of the boat’s movements?” Charlie sat next to her and handed her a new cup of coffee. It was made just the way Alicia had made hers and the liquid was very soothing. She noticed the girl pin a set of wings into the pocket of her shirt. Captain, it read, and it made her smile. Captain, indeed. 

“Yeah. Monty was very helpful but he said he had to go and get something to eat before breakfast hall closed down. He’ll be back though”

“We travelled over five hundred kilometers with the average speed of around 30 knots per hour” Charlie spoke as she read the map. She sipped her own coffee and shook her head scribbling something in a notepad that was previously lying on the table. 

“Is that bad?” 

“310 mile journey averaging 35 miles per hour on a boat… yeah. We were flying last night, it was about an 8 hour trip, he must have started the boat as soon as we went into the common room. I’m beginning to think he wanted Nick and Chris to find those bottles” she checked the broken fuel gage and sighed. “I don’t think we have enough fuel to get anywhere” Alicia looked pissed. She drank her coffee but didn’t say anything. “Okay, can you jot down a couple of coordinates if I give them to you?”

“Yep”

“Kay, I just need to figure them out… 5 minutes tops” Charlie smiled. It was amazing that she was so collected, and happy. But then again she did pack on another thirty day’s worth of supplies. The Ark could probably get to them in three days. She had nothing to worry about except for her plan failing. 

“Where is Strand?” Alicia asked as Charlie busied herself with a few calculations. She decided that she liked watching the way her nose crinkled as she jotted down some high level math. The way she’d look up at Alicia and give her a smile. 

“He’s a bit tied up at the moment. Here, try this 24.403255 n, -146.259273”

Alicia wrote down the coordinates on a piece of paper lying around. “Good”

“And now 20.69916, -133.251461”

“Right”

“Good that’s it” Charlie smiled. Alicia almost rolled her eyes. When she had said a couple she literally meant two. She read them back to the captain who scribbled them down. “My good lord. We’re further away than we were before” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. Pinpointing the three locations here… even using basic geometry” Charlie input three coordinates into the computer and Alicia watched as the pins were projected on the map. “Fucking hell we’re past Hawaii. But look, see, if we triangulate the pinpoints on the map we can see that we are the furthest point away and our trajectory towards the Ark here” she pointed at a bright gold point, “is the distance of our entire trip from the point we started last night to here, plus, what it would take to get to the ark from where we were supposed to be squared”

“A squared Plus B squared equals C squared” Alicia said looking at the diagram. “We are the hypotenuse right now… and our trip has all of a sudden become a vacation”

“Hope you like Hawaii...I doubt we’ll make it anywhere past that” Charlie said with a small smile and Chris ran into the room looking quite stunned.

“Okay which one of you did it?” His face looked pale. Charlie stared at Alicia for a moment wondering if Chris was aware of their new location. Alicia’s face dropped as she saw Nick and Travis carrying whatever ‘it’ was into the ship’s upper deck ahead of them. Strand was tied up like cattle and duct tape was placed over his mouth. Charlie let out a small chuckle and shrugged as the girl’s mouth dropped open and Travis ran into the cabin looking amused and slightly annoyed. 

“Why?” He asked.

“Because while we slept last night he veered us way off course” Alicia said pointing to the map. She never answered whether it was her or Charlie who tied him up. “And used up all the fuel”

“Are we closer to Mexico?” Madison stepped in behind Travis. Nobody seemed to mind the man they sat up against the deck’s seat. Nobody tended to him and he was angry, spitting mad. 

“Try further past Hawaii on your way to Japan” A face popped up on the screen. Monty sat drinking a mug of tea and a jelly doughnut. “Victor Strand just steered you past the last landmark protected by the UN. He drove you into uncharted territories which we have never mapped before” Behind him Raven and Octavia were engaged in some sort of an argument. “I’m sorry Charlie we can track you but we can’t help you. If we can get you to Hawaii you might be able to get a plane and fly back. Raven suggested she and Octavia fly out to meet you there”

“Is that area infected?” Charlie looked out the window at the man writhing in the seat. She let out a small breath. “Have we any status on it”

“No status. Hawaii is uncharted but like I said we’ll send some people out to get you”

“Thanks Monty” Alicia found herself saying. She gave Charlie’s forearm a reassuring squeeze before she turned to Travis and Madison. “Strand might have just killed us” her mother and Travis nodded in agreement. When they turned back they saw Nick sitting next to Strand and keeping him company while reading him a comic book. 

“That’s punishment enough. Now are we ready for vacation”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Oahu” Alicia said trying to keep the mood light. 

“I’ll set up a trajectory for you guys” Monty said as he was overtaken by Raven who looked absolutely mortified. 

“Monty alert the Admiral”

“Captain looking good” she said with a small smile. “Listen, O and I made sure to pack you a few things to keep the boat safe” She stared at the girl without looking at anybody else. “Check black bags with red tape. 2 RPG’s, 1 harpoon, 10 AR’s and enough ammo for a German blitzkrieg” Charlie nodded and Alicia searched for any reactions. “Do not let Strand touch a thing. Head for Hawaii and O and I will meet you there”

“How is Dr. Griffin?” Charlie asked to everyone’s surprise.

“Fine. She wanted to see you but she’s been quite busy”

“Why? What’s going on?” Charlie asked inquisitively. 

“Nothing. She’s got a lot of paperwork to do” Raven said and stared into the corner of the screen. Alicia studied her face and knew she was lying. Lying about something but she couldn’t tell what exactly it was. “Look Captain Morgan we’ve got to go” Raven said with a worried frown. “I’ll get in touch with you as soon as we can”. Perhaps they were in a situation worse than Charlie was making it out to be. Alicia held back her tongue for the sake of not starting anything new. Now they had to focus on Strand. What would Charlie do to him? The girl sat behind the control panel and did her best to look okay, but a small vein in the side of her neck told the truth, the girl must have been furious.


	14. Chapter 14

“Nick undo the tape” Alicia was the person to give the command Charlie had wanted to give since the group sat Strand down for a little chat. Her rational mind spun around in circles trying to figure out why this man would sabotage their only hope of survival. Travis and Madison stood by looking grim, Ofelia’s dad sat down talking slightly to himself about what a mess the situation was, and the rest stood watching Strand struggle. Nick didn’t move. “Fine” She said and Charlie watched as she ripped it herself and Strand let out a shout. He barked something incoherent at them and everyone was tense—Charlie, however, sat unblinking watching the scene before her as though it was nothing new. 

“What were you thinking Victor?” Travis asked crossing his arms. “The Captain had a plan. We were going to start a path towards the Ark, the only hope of survival, and you steer us into the middle of nowhere. Why?”

“We are not going to follow a child around…” Victor said bearing his teeth. He looked mad with rage and repulsion. “at the end of the world. I want to live. This is crazy”

“How’s your solar intake been Mr. Strand?” Charlie asked and everyone turned to her. For once her thoughts were clear as the day before them. She was angry, yes, but most importantly understood that no rational being would have done something so stupid. She was also angry with herself for giving in to her irrational want to just let go. They were here, she reminded herself, because you weren’t there to stop him. You were drunk. You were giving into your impulses, you were weak. “Were you the one doing most of the steering in the cabin without direct sunlight? Have you been drinking water or having a vegan diet? ”

“What do you know child?” Strand barked again.

“I know for a fact that a sane person would not be making stupid decisions Mr. Strand” Charlie never raised her voice. She leant forward in her chair and took a breath reading the eyes of Victor Strand. “I believe you are experiencing a lack of vitamin D which is making you go mental, either that, or I have to believe you are stupid enough to try and lead us to Mexico and to our death” she blinked and stared at the man before her with pity in her eyes. “Which one is it?” She asked mimicking her father. She had watched him 

“Vitamin D deficiency?” Travis cut in, “Like as in scurvy?”

“Yes scurvy, you’ve been living off of oat bars and water for a while, I’m surprised you all don’t have it”

“Strand was always picky about his food” Nick added with a shrug. 

“It’s an easy fix. Shame it cost us our only hope to get back in three days” Charlie said trying her best to keep her composure with a smile. 

“Untie me. Now” Strand spoke in a calm voice. His eyes looked crazy. “Untie me before I untie myself and throw you off this boat myself. My boat”

“I’m going to go get the medkit and start you on some vitamin D drips. Two banana bags should do it” Charlie said again with a sigh. “If nothing changes than you will stay tied until we can get to Hawaii. Then you are free to use this boat as you wish” She had seen this type of madness before and knew there was no point in arguing. “Chris will you get me the medbag in the kitchen. Does anybody know how to start an IV drip? I’m very cross with Strand but don’t want to hurt him, and right now I’ve had enough caffeine in me that my hands are not steady”

“I got it” Ofelia said with a small smile. “It was one good thing I learned during this hellhole”

“You wouldn’t dare little girl” Strand said in a warning tone. His body convulsed. 

“Nobody here has the right to touch me. I am a free citizen and will have my goddamn rights you sons of bitches”

“Please don’t make this awkward” Charlie spoke again and tried her best to convey how sorry she felt. Her eyes met Alicia’s briefly and she took a sharp inhale as the man spit right on her face. This was met with an outcry by the group. Charlie wiped it away quickly and allowed her body a moment to register what happened. “Okay. Last chance Strand, please, do this as a friend”

“You can go fuck—“ Duct tape came flying as Chris taped Strand’s mouth shut. He shook his head as he stepped away from the group mumbling to himself. 

“I am sorry to do this Mr. Strand but I cannot have you refuse treatment. You are sick and a threat to everyone on this boat. It is with this premise and with the powers invested in me by the United Nations, the United States of America and Great Britain, that I place you under arrest” her voice showed a little remorse. “You will receive your vitamin drips and will rest until further council is sought to do what is best and right to protect the lives of the people on this boat”. Charlie had only done this a couple of hundred times. She memorized the speech and almost always looked regal as she recited them. Not today. Today she felt defeated. “As a armed member of the United State’s Special Forces I have to recite you your Miranda Rights” Charlie explained seeing as everyone looked pretty out of it. It was like they had never seen someone be arrested before and they were slightly impressed with the process. “You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future” When she was done Charlie simply stared at the man for another second and stepped away. She needed to rest. “Please bag him and set him up in the common room. I’ll see to it that he gets sunlight when he can I just need a moment”

She left without hearing a small voice call out her name. She left before she gave into her instincts and shed the guilty tears she held back. 

You did this. Her mind seemed to scream at her over and over again as she sat down on Alicia’s bed and did her best to breathe into stillness. She slipped off her shoes and got comfortable. You killed them. The voice was relentless. She shouldn’t have gotten drunk. She could have fixed this if she had felt the boat move. With closed eyes and head to the pillow under her, which still smelled faintly of French Vanilla and Honey, Charlie willed her body to rest despite what her brain kept mulling on about. She didn’t hear the door open and Alicia quietly slip in. Instead she heard the same, idiotic, voice telling her how badly she’d have to pay for one night of pleasure. In the darkness of her own thoughts she was met with a soft pressure applied to her body as another body crashed into it in a desperate attempt to stay close. Charlie opened her eyes to find Alicia had slid into bed and laid in the crook of her neck and chest. Neither of them spoke for a while but Charlie adjusted herself to allow the girl’s body to get comfortable in her arms.

“I can hear you thinking Captain” Alicia finally said. She was playing with the small ivory coloured buttons on Charlie’s shirt. “But can’t make out what your brain is trying to say”

“I feel terrible for arresting Strand. He’s sick, and delirious, and not guilty”

“You did what you had to do to keep us safe. He’s sick. We can’t allow him to roam free or we’ll be unpacking our kimonos before dawn” Alicia spoke softly. “If the sharks don’t eat us first” What she said was statistically not sound but Charlie didn’t have the heart to tell her. Besides she recognized the attempt the girl was making to soothe her. She just wishes she wasn’t so rational all the time. She fought the urge to correct Alicia. 

“Still” Charlie said with a small sigh. 

“Nobody blames you Captain Windsor” Alicia added and nuzzled her head deeper into Charlie’s neck. 

“You are all too kind” Charlie spoke and found that the hand she used to keep Alicia balanced onto her was tracing small patterns on the girl’s side. She felt a little rush as her thoughts started to leave again, become muddled by the sudden realization of human contact, and this caused her to bite her lower lip to keep from reacting on impulse. They laid in silence for at least an hour. Charlie’s breath evening out. Alicia had fallen asleep and in her dreaming slipped a hand through a button in Charlie’s shirt that had popped open, and now laid on her very cut stomach, brushing lazily against the sharp lines. Charlie held back a low purr and did her best to fall asleep too. But the voices in her head were too loud.

“Hey lovebird” A gentle voice brushed the hair away from Charlie’s face. The small, dainty, hands reminded Charlie of the way Dr. Griffin would often brush her hair when she visited the hospital after negotiations with The Coast Guard. “I don’t mean to wake you but you have a call from a guy named Will. He says he’s your brother” Charlie’s eyes shot open and were met in a pool of brown. Ofelia smiled and gestured a little with her bad shoulder. Charlie made a mental note to take care of the bullet today. “He needs to speak with you and doesn’t have a lot of time” of course he didn’t have time. Will never had time for anybody except Luna. He was probably wanting to say goodbye before he returned to his home out at sea. 

“Thank you” Charlie mouthed. She moved gracefully out from under Alicia and made sure to tuck her back in. “Ofelia you should rest. When I get back we’ll get that shoulder looked at” she said with an appreciative smile. Charlie made sure to brush her teeth and fix her hair before she went to see Will. After all it had been two months since they last spoke. When she left the small bathroom Ofelia sat reading a book as Alicia slept peacefully. She touched the place where the girl had caressed her skin and couldn’t help but to smile as she slipped on her boat shoes.

“Lovebird… phonecall?” Ofelia said barely looking up from her book. Charlie smiled and walked away quickly. Her newfound clumsiness showing as she slammed half her body into the wall trying to walk out of the small door and slammed her tall head into the doorframe.


	15. Chapter 15

Will looked better than she had last seen him. His face had healed completely and he looked healthy with the exception of a very noticeable white sling on his arm. He sat with a grey teeshirt, a commander’s pin, on his sling, inside the command room. He seemed to be alone. He also seemed defeated.

“Charlie I don’t know how to start this” he said with a sigh. “Peharps by saying that its good to see you are well, and it is a very good thing you were led astray by that scurvy lad. I take it Raven has not contacted you yet” his sad eyes scanned Charlie’s and the girl sat at the edge of the seat in the captain’s quarters. Everyone had dispersed giving her the privacy she needed. She saw Chris looking down at the water from the deck with a gloomy face. He always had on a gloomy face. 

“No” She said, “and hello brother, I have missed you terribly, its good to see you” she said quickly before her face took on a more serious tone. “What is happening?”

“Pike” Will spoke again. “He’s been named Admiral in the Coast Guard. They are declaring war. Nobody is safe here”

“War?” Charlie’s head spun. “War? We are fighting a war right now… for our survival, is he mental?” She bit down on her lower lip. “But what does that have to do with the Ark? We are safe? We have room for those on land to come on board”

“That’s the thing isn’t it” Will looked down. “He attacked the grounders as we did our monthly pickup and dropoff” there was nothing else that needed to be said. They had hit them when they were at their weakest. Will had a tear in his eye and was tight lipped.

“What about dad?” Charlie didn’t want to hear it. 

“Charlie”

“Have you heard from him?”

“Charlie” Will sighed. “Dad was on his home the day you left so he is okay. He is coming here now. He phoned in this horrible tragedy from The Phoenix. But Charlie nobody made it out alive. He bombed them at night. Nobody saw it coming. There are no more grounder camps. No live persons. Nothing left but walkers and body pieces scattered in the beach. You can’t come back here. We are next”

“There were children on the ground” Charlie said trying hard to keep her face. She saw Octavia, Raven and Monty enter the room and sit down in a group behind Will. More people started to trickle in. “No” Charlie barely whispered feeling as though her chest had caved in. “Will” her mind started to go blank and her soul seemed to distance itself from her body. 

“We are leaving the Ark tonight. We will meet you in Hawaii then take off to meet the boat people. Luna has offered to give us shelter until we can gather ourselves. But you are the Captain” Those words dug deep. She had felt the pain of too many. “We need you to give us the word”

“But dad…”

“We can’t wait for him to decide Captain” Will spoke again and his voice was grim.

“I give you the right to do what you need to survive. Pull the kill switch on the Ark Will but make sure you are far away from it. About a hundred miles will do. ” Charlie spoke silently. She allowed her head to hit the control board and did her best to stop the oncoming tears. “How do I keep contact?”

“You don’t. We won’t have contact we just have faith” Monty said. His eyes were red and it looked as though he had been crying. “This is probably the last time we speak to you from the command room” Monty’s dark eyes looked almost black. “We all wanted to gather here and wait for your dad. Then we are starting to move out. Check your computer I sent all you need. I’ll leave it at that. You’re smart enough to crack the encryption. Raven and Octavia will fly to you first thing. They will have that old radio you found… you can get in contact with them there. They will accompany you to Hawaii” 

“We wish you were here Captain Windsor” came a shout from the back. 

“Will will guide you. He’s your captain until we meet again” Charlie said. “Listen to me everyone. Stay strong. How many of you are left?”

“You’re looking at us. Plus Dr. Griffin and Chancellor Kane who are on their way leading some younglings from the main bay. We are at total of 50” Charlie nodded as the general Indra took control of the scene and began to give her the details. Will sat back and nodded thoughtfully as the general spoke. They had over 200 when she had left. Most of them had left to aid those on land, she was sure, and now were dead. “Most of us are non citizens. But the newborns and chosen younglings are still here. There are 10 of them total. The other 40 are Ark personnel including you and your father who are away” she stepped back as Will took his place. They spoke for what felt like a lifetime. They went over their trajectory and what they could do. Charlie cried when Dr. Griffin came in to give the final report of the dead. 

“Charlie sweetheart, stay strong, we will all be okay” Dr. Griffin’s face looked beyond Charlie and she felt a light hand on her shoulder. Alicia sat by her and handed her a small cup of tea. She didn’t say anything but her eyes were red. How long had she listened in on the conversation was unknown. “You’ve been the best Captain and they struck us down when you were not here but it is not your fault. You are doing your duty and you have served well. The Ark will live on. Clarke would be proud” the woman’s voice faltered at her daughter’s name. “We have to end transmission to conserve energy. At midnight tonight we will pull the kill switch. Your father will arrive then and we will meet you in the location we have previously discussed” 

“Thank you. Lets have one last roll call my faithful crew… I can see you all clearly and bid you to stay strong” Charlie’s voice was sore and she stood up, putting a hand to her chest. “Will, Octavia, Raven, Monty, Jasper, Jacob, Abby, Marcus, Harper, Miller, Terrance, Ryder….” she began listing off names and people stood as they were called. “Charlotte, Becca, Winston, Monroe, Keith… Sinclair, Brennen, James…” Time seemed to slow down as the people stood. All 50 of them. The children were held in the air to see the Captain. Their tear stained faces was something she knew would haunt her until she saw them again out of harm’s way. “Jackson, Niylah, John Murphy, Emori and last but not least although they are not there with you my fathers Henry and James. You are all family. Stay strong. Stay alive”

“What about me Captain?” a small voice stepped forward and took the centre stage. The boy’s blonde hair was all Charlie needed to see before her voice cracked. 

“Aden” she said and her hand involuntarily reached out to touch his face on the screen. “Good lad… as a future Captain of this crew will you do us the honour of signing me off”

“Aye Captain” the boy said with a small nod and smiled at Raven who handed him the ceremonial sword Charlie kept in its sheath at the foot of her chair. Though she knew it was her duty to say the blessing her heart couldn’t bear to say goodbye. She wanted to leave them with strength. Aden had been the best initiate besides her. He had shadowed her for over two years ever since his 13th birthday. To have him say the blessing was something she knew would keep hope alive. It meant that she was using the moment as a teaching and not a goodbye. It meant she would see them again. “In peace, may you leave this shore. In love, may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels, until our final journey to the ground. May we meet again” The boy spoke slowly and clearly holding the sword at attention. 

“May we meet again” Charlie’s voice blended with the many others, including Alicia’s, who answered the boy. He sheathed the sword and tried to hide a tear on his face. Charlie knew he was scared. 

“Aden. I have an assignment for you” She spoke sweetly ignoring the crowd. “You are to care for my sword until we meet again. You are to follow Will and participate in all meetings. You are to be my eyes and ears and spirit” Charlie gave him a small reassuring smile. “And you are allowed to cry and be afraid. I am” She said and noticed that tears were on her face too as she spoke. “But I know we are strong enough to survive—but we can only do it together. Stay together. Stay strong. We are a family. I love you all. We will meet again” Charlie saluted the crowd and watched as they saluted back and the screen went dark.


	16. Chapter 16

“How is she?” Travis sat on the deck looking over a map of Hawaii in one of the iPad’s supplied to them by the Ark. He was looking at several ports they could dock in and was joined in by a worn out looking Madison. “I don’t think she has slept in two days”

“That’s because she hasn’t” Madison said looking down at her hands. “She has sat in that seat and has steered the crap out of this ship. She only left to remove the bullet fragments in Ofelia’s shoulder and untie Strand. She pardoned him, gave him a bottle of rum, and climbed back up locking herself in” She watched the waves lap lightly upon the boat. “Alicia’s been the only person she talked to and she’s not talking to me about Charlie. I’m worried about her Travis. I mean as a Guidance Counselor I want to spent hours getting into her head… as a mom I’m having a panic attack. Alicia is falling in love with this girl and I don’t even know anything about her. I knew everything about Matt and before Matt there was Nina… why won’t she talk to me?”

“I’m not talking to you because I know you’d talk to everyone else, mom” Alicia’s head poked out into the deck. She sighed and gave her mother a small smile. “Besides Charlie just needs space. We are headed to Hawaii now and have already prepared ourselves by arming this boat. Chris and Nick are having a field day with the harpoon. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them was speared in the ass right now”

“Alicia, language?”

“Mom… the world is ending. I get to say ass and fuck, and Charlie’s new favourite… tits…sometimes, right?” The brunette took a seat next to Madison who just threw her head back in mild frustration. Alicia was tired. She had spent the last two days at Charlie’s side trying to bear some of the burden. Yet she didn’t know why. She had no business inserting herself into Ark business but found herself present at every turn. Raven and Octavia were on their way in a smaller boat. They were bringing extra fuel with them. She leant against her mother for support. 

“My baby” Madison said tussling Alicia’s hair. “So grown up”

“I’m hardly a child, mom” Alicia smiled and closed her eyes against the sun. When she opened them again she saw the outline of the tall girl appear from inside the cabin and let a smile creep upon her face. Alicia had invited Charlie to come sit on the deck but didn’t think she’d actually come. “Hey stranger” she said not moving. Madison made some movements under Alicia making the girl sit up and watch as her mother got up and stood to hug the girl walking towards them. She was surprised her mother had cared at all about Charlie considering she wasn’t always the queen of hugging strangers. She could hear her mother saying in a very motherly half whisper, “you okay honey?” and Charlie’s endearing ‘yes m’am’. 

“O Captain my Captain, come have a sit down” Travis said making a sad excuse for an English accent. Alicia rolled her eyes but was glad everyone was trying to be nice. “Let us have a chat?”

“A chat? Good lord Mr. Manawa.” Charlie’s wavy dark locks flowed against the wind brought on by the moving boat. “What are we going to have a chat about? The fact that you’re doing your best to read that map upside down?” She sat next to Alicia. Madison took the seat next to Travis and Alicia couldn’t help but want to gag a little as her mother cuddled into him. Instead she took in the sight of Charlie in a pair of Adidas joggers, trainers, and a very well fitted sports jersey… All Blacks the little symbol said at her chest. Here she looked much more to Alicia’s taste, and god did she want a taste.

“You’ve been in the company of Alicia way too much for your own good” Travis smiled and turned the map. Charlie laughed. Alicia saw that she was not wearing the usual watch on her right wrist and noticed she had a tattoo on the inside of her forearm. A tingle creped up her own. She tried to make out what it was but it kept disappeared as Charlie stuffed her hands deep into the pockets of her trousers. “The snarkyness is starting to rub off”

“That explains why I tossed the toaster into the ocean this morning…” Charlie said with a facetious smile. Alicia rolled her eyes and tried not to let her emotions show. She felt quite vulnerable sitting with Charlie and her mother in the same vicinity. Although there was no reason for it; she desperately wanted her mother to like Charlie. But that didn’t seem to be a problem. The girl was enchanting in every way Alicia wished she could be. She made easy talk with Travis and her mother—all while keeping a keen eye on her. “We are not too far from land. Raven and Octavia have contacted me. They asked us to rest the boat tonight. I’ll stay on deck to keep a watchful eye on Strand”

“How is he?” Madison asked again, she wasn’t too concerned, but Alicia knew she liked being polite. 

“Fine. Sleeping. He wanted to add melatonin to his banana bag. Recovering from a lack of vitamins is excruciating… he thought it best to sleep through most of it” She felt guilty. Alicia knew it because even though Strand had willingly taken his IVs and apologized, over and over, for getting them into this mess Charlie still babied him. She actually cared. Despite all it cost them she was actually upset over having to strap him down and inject him with medicine. She was too kind. “I feel bad—“

“You don’t have to feel bad” Alicia felt the words shoot out of her mouth. “You did what you had to do, for us, and for him”

“Alicia might be sassy but has a point” Madison said with a small smile. “Without you we’d probably be in Japan by now… getting eaten by Japanese man eaters and god know what, Nick might have gotten nibbled by a shark, I’d be dead”

“Now we get a lovely vacation in Oahu” Travis smiled, “Or Waikiki?” he struggled with the iPad and looked up at Charlie with a smile. Alicia noticed that the girl next to her forced herself to laugh. She was so natural at acting like her world wasn’t falling apart; it made her wonder how long Charlie had been doing this. 

“Keep trying Travis. We’ll get there eventually” She said in her best American accent mimicking Alicia to the point where she even rolled her eyes in the ceremonious fashion the girl was so keen at. Alicia rolled her eyes eliciting a laugh from the group. Charlie looked into her eyes and she blushed. Why did she blush? Why was she so unnerved. 

“You know , maybe I should have kept you locked up” Alicia tried to be snarky but reached out to touch the girl’s arm as she said this. She averted a twinkle in her mother’s eye and then added “you’re horrible… wait who is steering the boat”

“Chris wanted a go at it” Charlie said and everyone’s faces snapped up to stare at the cabinet. Inside Chris stood with a chocolate chip health bar in his mouth staring lazily at the ocean with his hand at the wheel. Travis snapped up and yelled ‘Chris’ as he bolted towards the cabin looking terrified. Madison placed her hand over her mouth and was about to say something when Charlie finished with a “So I put it on autodrive for a little while” warranting more laughs from the blonde woman. Alicia couldn’t help but to crack a little smile watching the Captain from the corner of her eyes and allowing her guard to drop ever so slightly at the lazy grin she gave as Madison stood up to go and diffuse a very unnecessary situation.

Alicia and Charlie, now left alone, decided to sit and chat for a little while. Alicia couldn’t help but to share stories of her childhood hoping that the girl would talk about hers; but nearly an hour of gushing about herself, she found the attempt futile, as Charlie just dived into her life wanting to know everything. The way the girl’s head would be thrown back in laughter when she made a few jokes was endearing. The way she held on to Alicia’s hand when she talked about Matt was kind. The way her eyes would sometimes linger for too long, or wander towards her lips as she spoke, was overwhelming. Charlie was overwhelming and Alicia felt guilty for thinking so. 

“I didn’t take you to be the type of girl to get a tattoo” Alicia said finally when their conversation reached a small silence. Charlie held out her right forearm and watched as Alicia absentmindedly reached for it and traced the pattern with her light fingers. “It’s in the same place as mine… just on a different arm”

“Well I am a lefty” Charlie spoke sweetly. “So it was a little hard to try and tattoo myself anywhere but my right arm”

“You did this yourself?”

“Yeah. I did” she said and her words said enough. 

“For Clarke”

“Yes”

Alicia pulled up her shirtsleeves revealing her own tattoo of an intricately drawn pattern resembling a heart. “Matt” she said and Charlie smiled, she knew Charlie would ask to hear the story so continued, “He drew this on me with a sharpie the last time I saw him before he was sick. I tattooed myself one night when I was in a very dark place. Luckily the pattern was still there so it looks roughly like it did when he first drew it” She smiled and welcomed a light touch in her arm as Charlie traced it. 

“Its beautiful” The girl said and Alicia blushed. Then the most peculiar thing happened. Charlie spoke again. Charlie told her about her own tattoo. The Captain shared her feelings as though it was something she had always been very keen on doing“Each of us in the Ark have a special symbol that pops up on the screen when we have our trackers on while patrolling or out of the ship” she smiled, “I’m an anchor. Raven’s is, well a small bird, Octavia is a bow and arrow. Clarke was the infinity symbol. She picked it for herself saying that the symbol…much like her legacy…would live forever or something like that, she was a little out there” Charlie smiled brightly. Her eyes even became glossy as she spoke. “I’m just making sure it does” she said and looked down at her own arm for a second. “The funny part is that I am terrified of needles, sharp things, spears… looking back I do not know exactly how I was able to do this”

“Love makes us do some weird shit” Alicia said with a smile. Like abandon your family and come rescue a stranger in the middle of the Pacific, with no benefit to yourself, and no reward at the end except a half assed thanks. 

“Yeah” Charlie said and took in a little breath. 

“I like you Charles Windsor” 

“I like you too Alicia Clark”

“Captain... Chris broke the boat, Travis says it won’t turn!” Ofelia said running from the cabin to meet the pair who found themselves sitting awfully close to each other, face to face, with lazy smiles and dangerously close mouths. Alicia’s hand somehow had found comfort in tangling with Charlie’s and her head swam in circles as the girl got up. “You need to get him out of there before we all have to swim to Hawaii”

“Autopilot. They can’t turn the boat because it is on autopilot” Charlie said giving Alicia one more smile and getting up swiftly. Alicia felt herself laugh. The girl noticed her hand felt cold and craving touch as Ofelia took Charlie’s place and threw her a pack of cards. She missed the opportunity to kiss the Captain and her mind gave her shit for it, over and over again.

“Uno again?” Alicia asked, “Do you just love loosing to me. Is that our thing now?”

“Anything to keep you from eye fucking our saviour in front of your mother for another second” Ofelia said with a laugh. The sad thing was she was probably right.


	17. Chapter 17

“Charlie you barely had dinner. My mom doesn’t want you to die and honestly neither do I” Nick said crossing his arms over his chest as he sat down next to the half eaten peanut butter and jam sandwich Charlie had nibbled on. 

“Its yours Nick”

“No. We have rations and I wouldn’t..”

“Alicia and I both had one during tea this afternoon and Ofelia gave me an apple two minutes before your mom walked in with another sandwich and a few pretzels… I’m not starving you know” Charlie stood watching the control panel and blank TV screen. She kept a lookout for any sign of land but once again found that the night fell without any hope. “I had to do three hundred fifty sit-ups this morning to combat this high fat diet you lot seem to love”

“Well not everyone wants your rock hard abs Mr. T” Nick said through a mouthful of Charlie’s sandwich. “Are we stopping soon or do you plan on riding out the night”

“Stopping” Charlie shrugged. “Now that we don’t have a navigation system its hard for us to travel during the night and still follow the direct path we gave Reyes and Blake” Her tired eyes scanned over the waters again and she couldn’t help but give a frustrated sigh. She had not had contact with anyone in over a day. Surely they would contact her as soon as they were able to. So what happened? 

“I have a tiny question for you” The boy said wiping his mouth in Charlie’s napkin. 

“Yeah?”

“When are you going to stop fucking around and just kiss her?” Charlie froze. Nick’s smile was too evident. “Come on… you’re a genius, don’t act innocent like you don’t know what or who I am talking about” She felt a tinge of rouge light up her face and instead toyed with a compass she had dug out of a supply bag earlier. She peered around the room noticing the minor changes she had made. The cabin had become her home. Aside from spending her nights, selfishly she thought, accidentally falling asleep while talking to the green eyed girl she had spent most of her time here. Strand even had agreed to stay away once he had gotten a bit better, he called it a truce, Charlie called it a present.

“Lets go drop the anchor” She ignored Nick and walked out into the night air. Alicia stood at the lower deck with her hair flowing in the wind. The image of the girl caught Charlie slightly offguard and she slipped down the last few steps of the stairs causing Nick to laugh hysterically. His sister yelled at him from across the way and came running to Charlie’s side. She felt Alicia pull her arm up and did her best to laugh the situation off. Alicia might have not noticed the way Nick was gesturing wildly behind her, making kissy faces, but Charlie did and she wanted to run. “Thank you”

“Falling for me are we?” Alicia said. “I’m not surprised… it has to be my beautiful, au natural, post apocalyptic non-made up face and oversized flannels” Charlie nodded absentmindedly. Was it that? The girl was beautiful… so beautiful she barely had time to take in the fact that she had wrapped herself into a burrito again. What a lovely burrito. 

“You have no idea how hardly I am falling. Hardly falling I mean” Charlie joked. “To be honest I think your brother has it out for me” Nick grinned wildly. “Bet you he pushed me and is being coy about it”

“When you’re done playing with my brother maybe you could come play with me?” Alicia said raising an eyebrow. Charlie noticed her face turn bright red as she realized the words that just came out of her mouth. “I mean I found this connect four game thing and thought you’d like to… play. You know what just come find me. I’m going to bed. Its late and some of us don’t enjoy the cold breeze, and love a warm bed”

“Oh I’m sure you do sister dear” the man said in a fake, sheepish, voice. “Come on Romeo we have to hoist the anchor down so we don’t float away” he reminded Charlie who almost forgot why she had come to the lower deck. “Then you can go drool over Alicia while I gag” he made a face and started the process of untying the anchor from the gunwale. Charlie didn’t reply but simply helped him lower the anchor. Nick offered her an apologetic kick to the butt as she leant over the side of the boat. She retorted by accidentally stepping on his sandal-clad toe with her combat boots. She liked the boy—but felt as though he needed a little tweaking here and there before she could admit it. 

When Charlie slipped into Alicia’s room it was way past midnight. She saw the light was on which meant Alicia had waited for her. The green eyed girl sat on her bed reading a leather bound book Charlie had left behind from the night before. Charlie had taken a moment to shower since lowering the anchor with a silly, and quite unhelpful Nick, proved to be a very daunting task. Slipping into a new pair of joggers, a grey Ark fitness tee with the word CAPTAIN written on the back in black ink, and a pair of Adidas trainers she looked a lot younger than she usually had. Charlie tried to fiddle with her hair for quite a while before she gave up and tossed it into a lazy bun. Clarke had always given her the wildest hairstyles. Before Clarke she had always kept it short the way her grandmother liked it. Before Clarke she also never had the courage to be caught dead in a pair of joggers or trainers. She had, after all, been a royal.

“My grand old Duke of Albany” Alicia said, not bothering to look up, from the yellow stained pages of the old book. “Charles Edward Mason Windsor” she said and allowed the faintest smile appear from the corner of her lips. Then she turned down the book and stared at Charlie in a way that made her heart leap from her chest. Charlie felt Alicia’s eyes roam her body and she found it strange to like it so much. “How dare you leave a lady waiting” Alicia put the book down on her bed and stood up slowly. She wore a plain, tight fitting, black teeshirt and what looked like jogging shorts. Her long, slim, legs were fully on display and Charlie felt gooseflesh start to appear in the back of her neck. She had not felt that way in a long time. Since Dr. Griffin had started lowering her dosage of the suppressants to prepare for the oncoming inevitability that they would no longer be available in the new world Charlie had felt all kinds of new emotions. Alicia did not notice them because she busied herself by leaning over her bed and reaching for a game box she had put on the windowsill. Charlie did her best not to stare too hard but it was difficult. It was so difficult to ignore the fact that the girl before her had been sculpted by a very, very, generous god. It was difficult not to follow the contours of her body and how her hair fell on her back in endless waves. Charlie tried to focus but there was very little else to focus on in the room. When Alicia turned back she met Charlie’s gaze for a second and blushed. Charlie did too. Perhaps she focused a little too hard. 

“You know just because I’m from the other side of the pond doesn’t mean I don’t know how to completely destroy you at Connect Four. I’ll have you know I have always had dual citizenship… I’m an American too, just more refined, and better mannered” Charlie allowed herself to slip comfortably back into her very prim and proper accent. She was trying her best to impress Alicia and didn’t know how else to. Girls loved the British, she had always been told by her brother Will, so be the best damn British you could be. 

“Well your grace” Alicia pulled out a small wooden tray from under her bed and started the process of setting up the game. “I can’t argue with you about your being more refined… or better mannered… but I guarantee you I will own you in this game” Her lips fell into a lazy smirk and Charlie bit down on her own to keep herself from saying anything else suggestive. She took a seat opposite to Alicia and allowed herself a moment to stretch out and get comfortable. She was considerably taller and always felt the beds in this small cabin were not made for a person her size. Then again not everyone was 6’4. 

“I guarantee you’ll be begging me to let you win” Charlie said with a tiny little wink. 

“You wish I’d beg you to do anything” Alicia said with a small smirk, she finished setting up the game, and scooped up all the black pieces. “You’re red because you suck”

“Red is the best colour and record ever created in the world” Charlie replied with a shrug, “So I don’t mind being given such an honour. Thank you, sweetheart.”

“Red?” Alicia raised an eyebrow as she started the game. “What British sensation made a Red album?” 

“The queen of pop herself did”

“Beyoncé or Adele?” Alicia rolled her eyes, contemporary music wasn’t much her thing.

“Taylor Swift” Charlie said in a deadpan look on her face. Alicia dropped her black pieces on the bed and just stared at the girl. “What Miss Alicia Clark?” Charlie raised an eyebrow at the girl whose jaw was slack. She blushed furiously.

“Wow. I never thought you’d be one of those” Alicia spoke and took her turn. Charlie blocked her again. 

“One of those what?”

“12 year old, brace wearing, training bra clad Swiftie” Alicia laughed. “Actually you’re properly advertised as the opposite of that. You’re the leader of a military base Charles… what the actual fuck!?” Charlie blushed noticing Alicia was almost in tears. She shrugged.

“Listen. Taylor Swift isn’t my role model per say and the lord knows her secrets are endless… but Red is the most underrated album of all time” Charlie smiled, “I will change your shit opinion on it” She said and put down her own red piece. “A song at a time. The lyrics to that album read like poems. The sonic fusion will blow your tits clean off” Alicia snorted. Charlie did too. “Sorry I mean they will be ‘rad bro’” she spoke in a typical California accent and took her turn loosing to Alicia as the girl made fun of her without mercy. 

After playing a few rounds they fell back into their usual night time routine of sitting together and reading. Charlie picked up the leather bound book of yellow pages full of poetry writing while Alicia did her best to get through a training manual for piloting a boat. Charlie had promised her she would be willing to teach her how to steer as long as she read the whole book and so far she had put in a valiant effort to do so. Charlie barely noticed that she had laid down on Alicia’s lap and the girl lazily stroked her hair as she fell into the Whitman section of the small book. She was so enthralled in the book she skipped the fact that Alicia watched her closely and that she put down the book and started to braid the girl’s hair instead. “That book you gave me looks old” The girl spoke and Charlie looked up from the book for a second giving her a small smile. 

“Its been around quite a while, some of those pages are very old replicas of their original” Alicia took a turn grabbing the book and sifting through the delicate pages.

“Present from an important royal?”

“No… I stole it from my grandmother’s house in Windsor last summer” 

“Her palace you mean” Charlie noticed Alicia’s grip around the book softened and she seemed to hold it with a very different, more careful, demeanour. 

“Well… one of them… yes. But I mean come on its just a bloody book love, she’s probably never even held it in her hands. In fact when I found it there was a layer of dust so thick I went into an asthmatic coughing fit ” Charlie laughed. Alicia did too and seemed to relax.

“Why didn’t they come and get you. When all this started… they shipped everyone else out of the state who mattered” 

“I chose to stay and fight with my people. The people who wanted me” Charlie tried not to sound so sad. She remembered the call. The way her grandmother pleaded and even offered Will a title for Charlie’s return to England. She remembered the look on her father’s face as she denied it all. He had never been more proud in his life. “I didn’t like my life in London. My grandmother made my time there absolute hell. Every day was about what we had to do in order for the royal family to survive… it was hopeless. Eventually I stopped going to visit her altogether and was labelled the black sheep of the family. Life is more than just surviving, you know. I grew tired of having to pretend and to be this perfect little pup at the heels of the queen. The short time I spent there was enough to let me know that I was not ever going to belong to that world” Charlie caught herself before she became too emotional. Alicia didn’t speak but kept on playing with her wavy hair in a way that was soothing.

“You never talk much about yourself. Why?” The girl sounded sincere and Charlie felt bad for not having a much better answer besides the one she did.

“Nothing to talk about”

“You are a shitty liar Captain Windsor”

“You are a curious lizzy Alicia Clark” Charlie retorted turning back to her book. “But if you must know I grew up running around the castles of England and cavorting with the royal family until I turned twelve. Then I was brought to the Ark. I graduated high school at thirteen. Double Majored in Rocket Science and Literature by the time I was 15 and started going to Caltech then. I spent most of my life in the Ark. I only left home to attend parties in London and see my family. I was seventeen the first time I left the Ark to attend a full semester at Caltech…but then people started eating each other and I had to get the fuck out of California”

“I remember that” Alicia said sarcastically. “Still you’re interesting”

“My life has always been about books and science, maths, and so I have very little stories to tell”

“Except for you love Taylor Swift and are a royal duke who also happens to be a literary savant and hopeless romantic… “ Alicia continued in a soft voice. “Don’t sell yourself so short. I barely graduated from a shit high school in LA and will make myself out to be a queen if you allow me to”

“That’s because you are a queen, love” Charlie said and found the words sticking to her throat, sweet like honey, but dangerous all the same. 

“You must have had so many girls after you” Alicia tried to brush off the comment and kept running her fingers through the dark tresses and Charlie felt a little embarrassed.

“No. Most were after the crown and were too stupid to realize I was twelfth in line for it. There would be a lot of blood shed before I even saw its glimmer. Literally my entire family would have to die in a tragic accident and by then I wouldn’t even want the ruddy thing”

“That’s not what Raven told me” Alicia smiled.

“You’ll meet Raven soon and realize anything she told you about me is most likely a bit of an exaggeration” Charlie chuckled lightly. Raven was a blessing and a curse. So cheeky that sometimes Charlie would forget she could be serious. Like the time she told Charlie she had been summoned by the Admiral, her father, to come see Will in the medbay and Charlie ignored her. Turns out Will had woken up from his coma. But Raven had played that trick before twice and Charlie stopped listening to her. 

“She told me you were the sweetest, kindest, most gentle creature on the planet wrapped up in a little ball of fury wearing a captain’s costume. Like a little warrior bunny” Charlie looked up at Alicia and saw that she had a smug look on her face. “She wasn’t wrong. When I first saw you I though you were going to be insufferable”

“And now?”

“You’re still insufferable. But you make up for it by being a little puppy” 

“Shut up” Charlie said with a tiny smile. She felt her lips go dry as Alicia started to lean down towards her face. The girl made her drop her book on the floor and her heart beat right out of her chest. She felt her lips lightly graze past her mouth and land a kiss right on her cheeks—with just the tiniest bit of it landing on the corner of her mouth. Perhaps an accident. Perhaps it was a bloody accident. Her fried brain didn’t have much of a thought. She thought this was the time to kiss her. But found it difficult to move and as Alicia pulled away she fought everything she had not to throw herself overboard. 

“That was the moment you idiot!” Nick slammed the door causing Charlie to jump up and sit against the wall with her feet dangling over the side of the bed. Alicia threw Charlie’s book at her brother who walked in with Ofelia. “Jesus you’d think for a captain you’d have a little more… what do you people call it again… oh right bollocks”

“You’re a complete arse Nick” Charlie said deflecting her embarrassment with a small smile. 

“Look at you, my little noodle in an extra small teeshirt” Chris followed the rest of the crowd barely saying much. He held a copy of a coding manual in his hand and looked bored as he ever was.

“First of it’s a small, second off, fuck off” Charlie sighed. Perhaps if she had just gotten on with it she would have not been stuck with the whole family. Alicia leant up against her pillows and put her feet over Charlie’s legs. Between the pair there was no room left and the other three sat awkwardly in Ofelia’s bed looking grim. “Can we help you?”

“Yes and no” Nick started. “We just got a call from Raven and Octavia. So we brought the radio in here” As he said this Chris placed the old box on the table. “To continue this conversation”

Chris held the receiver up to his mouth and spoke lightly. “Hi, are you guys still there?”

“Yes Chris… did you guys finally get a hold of those lovebirds or is Charlie still busy not doing the sexy”

“Hello Raven” Charlie spoke as Chris held the receiver up for her to take it. “It’s Captain Charlie to you”

“Get over yourself” 

“Octavia… my liege” Charlie smirked feeling a surge of happiness. They were well enough to call to her and laugh. Charlie felt a little bit of the giant weight over her shoulder drop away. She had inherited those two from Clarke and cared about them as though they were her own flesh and blood. She loved them. It felt so good to hear from them. 

“Listen, we don’t want to alarm you or anything…” Octavia said sounding a bit unconvincing. Already Charlie’s senses started to heighten.

“Our plane was shot down” Raven cut in. The room went silent and Nick gave a little curt nod.

“Raven…” Octavia snapped.

“Okay you’re phrasing this as though we’re on vacation. Charlie, our plane was shot down, but we are okay. Will was not too far behind with a large boat and gave us a dinghy he had packed up to get over to you. Problem is we kind of fried the motor…” Charlie nodded. Raven had probably tried to get it going more than 5 to 10 knots per hour and made it wonky in the process. She wasn’t wrong either.

“Raven… fried the motor, she tried to ramp up the horsepower on it, and instead now it wont work at all. We’re about 10 miles away from you”

“We could get to you in less than an hour if we rush” Charlie calculated quickly in her mind as she started tapping her foot excitedly. “In what direction were you headed?”

“North” Octavia replied in a deadpan voice.

“Which means if you come get us we might not make it to Hawaii. Your fuel is limited” Raven added. Charlie dropped the small receiver onto her lap as Chris gave a very frustrated sigh. She didn’t know what to say. 

“You have to get the Clark family to safety” Octavia spoke again. “We are just radioing in to see if you can get to Will using the comlink on the boat. He can come get us”

“Can he because you said Will was long gone when it was just us upstairs, love?” Nick was the first to speak. He mimicked Charlie realising maybe it wasn’t an appropriate time to do so.

“Charlie?” Ofelia asked and the tall girl just bit down on her bottom lip pensively. “Don’t even think about leaving them there”

“I am not sure if we can get to them without compromising our passage to Hawaii” She replied. Alicia sat up and opened her mouth to say something but closed it rapidly. Nick shook his head and Chris clicked his teeth. The situation was proving to be a little bit too tense. Charlie tapped her foot again and picked the receiver. “Listen maybe we can spare some fuel if we ride to Hawaii slow and allow the boat on neutral when we feel the tide is right. Rig up sails… engineering shit Raven can think of with the right tools. You can’t stay out there and not become shark bait. Do you have a tracker on you? Turn it on.”

“Yes. But Captain your duty is to your people. Get them to safety. Raven and I are okay”

“You are my people” Charlie said getting up and leaving the group behind. She headed to the cabin and locked the door behind her without even thinking about the consequences. She would track them down and find them. Hawaii could wait.   
\-- 

“What is going on?” Travis was the first to show up at the scene. The crowd gathered outside the door watching Charlie plug away at a computer—a map showing up on the screen and blinking lights signalling position points clear as day. She was using a backup system on her computer that was slightly outdated and worked mostly like an interactive atlas. She plugged in coordinates and talked into the radio. Then she plugged away at it some more. “What is she doing?” Nobody spoke. Nick and Alicia, who had busied themselves by puling up the anchor, came back to find Ofelia and Nick surrounded. Alicia sighed. 

“We” she started, “Are going to save Raven and Octavia” she finished and crossed her arms. “Please move” she did everything but run over the small crowd as she knocked on the glass pane of the cabin and was let in. She gave Charlie a small smile and studied her as she took a seat. The sat with their backs towards the crowd and Alicia tried not to smile as Travis banged on the window with fervour. “Alicia should I be doing this?” The brunette couldn’t help but swoon a little bit. The big bad captain of the seas was asking her input in matters of which she barely knew herself. When Charlie turned to her she paused to take in how beautiful the girl looked. She swallowed dryly and couldn’t help but noticing her jaw had twitched a bit in thinking. 

“Yes” she said, “We need to go get them Charlie. They’re your family” she smiled knowing her words had deeply affected the captain. 

“Okay” Charlie said in agreement then added, “Okay yes, lets do this” she sounded more excited and picked up the receiver. “Little Birb and Hunter we are a go” she said and put down the receiver making up her mind. Alicia watched as the girl stood, towering above her as she sat, and headed towards the door. 

“Charlie what are you doing?” The words escaped her lips but Charlie had already opened the door allowing the flood of people into the cabin.

“No” Travis was the first to talk. “No” he shook his head. Madison opened her mouth to say something but shook her head too. 

“Are you trying to kill us little girl?” Ofelia’s dad sounded very much serious. “We don’t have enough fuel as is. If you were a captain you’d know that we have to spare the lives of few to save the many… your little friends… they’re the few. You have to”

“Shup up” Ofelia said, then repeated it in Spanish, her hands almost shaking. “Charlie lost her entire world back there and you didn’t bat an eye. She didn’t offer to go home, she instead, sat back and tried to save us. The least we could do as decent human beings is go back for her family. But you wouldn’t know anything about that would you?” She was infuriated. Charlie opened her mouth to say something and instead found herself speechless. Nobody spoke.

“I will not let you turn this boat around” The old man spoke again in a low voice.

“My boat” Strand’s familiar voice shot from around a corner. He looked refreshed. “My rules. Rule number one” he said, and leaned against Charlie, “we follow the captain’s orders…. captain” he said turning to her, “what say you?” Charlie let out a small sigh of relief.

“She says we go get those girls” Nick laughed and took Charlie by the arm leading her back to the cabin. Charlie laughed. She felt everyone follow her there but didn’t lock the door.

“Okay” she said turning the wheel. “Reyes, Blake, here we go”


	18. Chapter 18

“Took you long enough” Raven’s wild smile was all Charlie needed to see as the rush of the Pacific midnight wind blew the small boat into a reckless teeter totter. Octavia rolled her eyes. Strand docked the boat near the dinghy and Charlie took a dive into the cold water to help her friends get into the yacht. Travis and Alicia lowered the steel stairs as Madison gathered towels and Nick found a few ropes to tow the boat. 

“I missed you” Charlie said as she pulled the two girls into a urgent hug. She held them tightly to a point where Octavia started to tap out and Raven, even Raven herself, got a bit winded. “I am so glad you’re safe”

“Arent we full of feelings tonight” Octavia said with a smirk. She accepted the rope Nick threw into the water and began to pull the dinghy closer to the landing at the boats bow. “You and Raven can kiss and make up later. I just want to get the fuck off this boat”

“Said the girl who didn’t want to get rescued” Raven rolled her eyes and helped Octavia. “Don’t” she raised an eyebrow at Charlie who was going to help pull too. “Abby asked O and I to keep you under strict watch for another week. No heavy lifting. No fucking wildly. We’ll keep you off Al—“

“Her mother is right there” Octavia whispered between gritted teeth. Together the pair pulled the dinghy closer and Charlie tied an expert knot to keep the boat together. Raven did too and Nick took a turn tying the front end of the boat. His knot looked like a giant bird’s nest.

“Can’t tie a knot, tie a lot” he said and gave them a lazy grin helping them into the boat. Raven smirked and Octavia’s slack jaw snapped shut as Charlie let out a laugh. A genuine laugh. Alicia came forward holding a towel for each of them. She helped Charlie with hers earning a very loud snort from Raven who seemed very quiet for herself. Charlie noticed her grip on her right leg as she climbed the stairs to the main deck where Travis had set out doing his best to barbeque some of the last of the fresh fish they had caught. Saltwater fish. And smiled at the two girls who looked nothing short of excited to be there. She felt guilty recognizing the awkward limp as a result from their negotiations with the Coast guard. 

“Welcome to the Abigail” He said and Strand waved from the Captain’s cabin. “Hope you like Mahi Mahi… with a side of”

“Crisps.. the closest thing to a vegetable on this vessel” Charlie laughed as she spoke. She was dripping. The only one who had gone into the dirty sea water. Alicia draped another towel over her head as she crossed by carrying some of the bags from the small boat. Chris carried a small black radio and Nick did his best to haul a giant bag of supplies. “Jesus no wonder you blew a motor. You’re packing days worth of supplies here”

“Well we had to make sure we were set for a couple of days and you know your brother. He’s like a grandmother who wont let you leave until you’ve been perfectly fed, watered, and packed for a thirty day vacation even though you’re only going away for the weekend” Raven shrugged. “This is a beautiful boat” she said and accepted the water, and a hug, from a very tired looking Ofelia. 

“I can’t believe you came to get us” Octavia said as Ofelia repeated her actions. She studied Charlie for a moment and saw that the girl looked quite well. Charlie blushed being scrutinized like that. Octavia had always been like a big sister. She watched over Charlie and made sure she took care of herself. 

“I can’t believe you almost convinced me not to” she replied with a wide grin. Octavia rolled her eyes again. “You guys stink. Go shower up” she added and received a large clap on the back. Nick and Chris joined them in the top deck looking quite winded. Alicia came by and stood by Charlie, but not too close, even she couldn’t fake a little disgust.

“Looks like we’re not the ones who need a shower”

“We have more than one” Strand’s voice came into earshot. “You all need to get your stinky asses off my deck” he laughed. Charlie blushed noticing that the water she had dipped into was a little murky. It was dark so she couldn’t tell what the grime in the water was but it was pretty obvious she was gross. 

“Yeah he’s got a point” Raven said looking at Charlie for a moment with a raised eyebrow. “Come on… lets go shower and jam out to some Cold War Kids” she dragged Charlie away momentarily and then let the girl take the lead as Octavia followed not too far behind talking to Alicia quietly. Charlie led the group to the main bath and gave them a little knowing smirk. “What?” Raven said with a tiny smirk.

“Don’t be too loud. Nobody here needs to hear you two fuck” Charlie spoke with a quiet air of innocence. “Cold War Kids coming up!” she said a bit louder as the pair joined them. Octavia was trailing a towel on the floor picking up after Charlie’s wet mess. Charlie looked at her sheepishly. “I’ll go get the soundbar”

“I’ll get it “ Alicia said with a little smile. She was blushing furiously and walked by Charlie without being able to make eye contact.

“What did you do O?”

“Nothing” Octavia smiled and walked into the bathroom giving a little whistle. “Nice digs…” Charlie decided to take off her clothes. Not because she wanted to be particularly revealing but because she was starting to make a mess. Besides it was only Octavia and Raven. They had seen her naked plenty of times. She’d get down to her underwear and wrapped a towel around her lower body keeping her bra on. No big deal. She slipped out of the wet clothes and threw them at Raven who was catcalling her. And wrapped a towel around her body.

“Jesus” Octavia slapped her bare abdomen and Raven laughed. “I forgot about those”

“Stop”Charlie said drying out her hair with a clean towel Raven stole from the cabinet. 

“Has Alicia ever licked them? I would” Raven smirked. “Speak of the devil” she said as the thin girl stepped into view holding a soundbar playing Sex by the 1975, she was humming to the beat, and completely unaware of the situation. Charlie smiled as Alicia rounded into the hallway where she stood and shot her a very wide smile. The girl froze and grew a very bright cherry red. Her jaw dropped and Charlie blushed pretending not to notice she was doing everything in her power to pick it up off the floor. “Like what you see?” Raven popped her head out of the bathroom and Alicia shook herself back into reality handing the soundbar wordlessly to Charlie.

“Thank you” Charlie said and took the sound bar shoving it into the bathroom with Octavia and Raven. “Mind if I use your”

“No” Alicia stammered, “Please… you look so” she paused and swallowed whatever she was going to say. “So cold” Charlie didn’t even notice the gooseflesh on her skin. She picked at her stomach and did everything not to notice Alicia was staring hard. As they headed towards the cabin they crossed Nick whose face was immediately, and comfortably, in awe. 

“Jesus look at you. You’re fucking ripped” He said. “Chris look at this fucker. She’s got a twelve pack… look at that v cut… I just went a little gay”

“Well she’s a girl” Alicia said, a bit defensively, “So you’re not gay are you? You goober” she dragged Charlie, who smirked and winked at Chris who showed up and looked gobsmacked, into her room. “Come on…shower up Steve Rogers, you can show off your muscles later”

“Why are you calling me Captain America? I surely don’t stink that bad. If anything I’m like… Thor or Iron Man or something”

“You’re the one who went from wet noodle to meaty lasagna. I don’t make the rules” Alicia smiled and Charlie swore Alicia watched her as she went into the shower room. 

She felt hyper aware of her different body as she heard the girl outside the door. She had put on more music and Charlie smiled noticing Alicia was enjoying the Troye Sivan album she had showed her. Enjoyed it so much she was humming and, what Charlie surely thought, would be dancing. She allowed the cool water to hit her very murky head and watched as the dirty water fell out of her and down the drain. Her toiletries were still there, from the previous two times she had used this shower, and she was more than glad not to have to speak to the girl at all. She lathered herself, quickly tending to her extra appendage in a way that made her stomach queasy, and rinsed off. Paying particular attention to her hair, knowing fully well Alicia had a habit of running her hands through it, she shampooed twice and conditioned plenty as her mind raced with the song outside the door and the voice of the girl beyond it. 

“You alive in there?” Raven’s voice quickly popped in and she was brought back, once again, to reality as the girl opened the shower to check in. “Jesus… excited much?” the girl said and Charlie noticed it too. “Holyfuck I forgot how bi”

“Shut up” Charlie said tossing a shampoo bottle at her.

“Alicia needs to see this” Raven said with a smirk not bothering to take her eyes off of Charlie who continued to shower knowing fully well that neither, it, nor Raven could spoil how warm the water felt against her skin.

“Reyes what are you doi—holyshit” Octavia entered the bathroom and just grinned wildly.

“Guys please its not that big of a deal” Charlie laughed rinsing off the last bit of conditioner.

“It’s a big deal alright” Raven grinned.

“You’ve grown” Octavia said with raised eyebrows Charlie did not need. Charlie laughed. “Were you thinking about me or the other brunette right outside the door?”

“Stop harassing me” she said facetiously, really enjoying the fact that her body was something worth gawking at, Clarke had made her grow confident and apparently this confidence never left. Only at the mention of Alicia, and the warm feeling rushing down between her legs which caused a slight twitch and a gasp from Raven, did the girl turn towards the wall and blush furiously. 

“Is Charlie okay?” the small voice inside the bathroom, followed by a quick, ‘oh god sorry’ was enough to make Charlie slam her head lightly onto the bath wall. “I’ll get towels… you need towels” the girl said and rushed out of the room. Charlie sat there with the water hitting her back as Raven and Octavia left and took control of the music in the room. She turned the water into cold and faced the shower getting rid of her little, big, problem. It took twenty minutes. Then she took a dry towel from the rack and locked the bathroom door as she dried off. She heard the conversation die down as Ofelia came to get everyone for their collective impromptu late night dinner. When she covered herself, for the most part, she left the bathroom to look into the small cabinet Alicia had put in the corner of the room holding a pair of her clothes in case Nick decided to hog the bathroom in the morning for what he called ‘reading the news’. Gross. But useful.

“Go to the deck. I’ll meet you guys there” Alicia’s voice was clear coming down the hall. “No I’m fine I just need to change. Nick is such a jerk” She tried to run back into the bathroom but was currently in the process of putting a shirt over her head and instead knocked herself onto the cold floor as Alicia walked in and blushed furiously as a half naked Charlie, in a sports training bra, scrambled to her feet again. 

“Hi”

“Sorry, sorry” Charlie’s hands were trapped by the hem of the teeshirt and she turned a bright red. She always wondered how those scenes worked in movies. How somehow sex could happen from a person walking in on another while they struggled. As Alicia helped her free her hands she concluded that it was Hollywood magic. Nothing sexy about walking into a looser who can barely keep it together “I’m so sorry”

“No don’t be” Alicia was staring and Charlie liked it a bit too much. “I mean you’re so… you look good” the girl stammered. Charlie crossed her arms over her small chest, forgetting for a moment she had a bra on, and gave her a forthcoming smile. 

“You do too” she said and laughed as Alicia realized her white shirt had been completely transparent since Nick spilled his cup of water on her, with intent, as he walked by. “Look good I mean. You’re beautiful, I mean.” she nodded as she spoke and grew bright red. Alicia rolled her eyes and turned away from Charlie, a smile so wide on her face, her cheeks could barely support it. 

“We both get changed but we don’t look” 

“Game on” Charlie replied with a wide grin closing her eyes as she faced the wall. She was so intent on getting dressed she didn’t even notice the slight peeks Alicia would sneak here and there. Didn’t even notice as they left the room, both fully dressed, how the girl kept close. Close enough to touch. 

“Raven can fix that” Charlie overheard Octavia speak. She walked closely behind Alicia and held her lower back as she ascended a steel set of stairs. When she reached the top of the deck she noticed everyone gathered around a small fire in a metal tin. She knew that was Octavia’s signature move. The girl loved the outdoors. Loved to sit by a fire. Keeps out mosquitoes she’d always say. Raven nodded as she swallowed what Charlie assumed to be a big piece of fish and smiled widely as they made eye contact. 

“I’m so sorry Leeshy I did not mean for th-“ Nick started to say but Alicia advanced on him punching him on whatever place she could find. Ofelia gave Nick a kick and Raven rolled her eyes. 

“Nick why were you trying to wet your sister’s shirt. That’s very game of thrones of you…”

“Shut up Charles you wanker” Nick shouted as Alicia continued. Nobody moved. Octavia pat down a seat next to her and handed Charlie a plate with some crisps. 

“Thank you” Charlie started and with a questioning look from Madison moved to speak but was interjected by Alicia, as she took a seat next to her, and helped herself to some of her dinner.

“Mom Charlie doesn’t eat fish”

“Wow” Raven smiled but said nothing else. 

“That’s why we saved you her piece” Madison said with a tiny wink handing her daughter another paper plate. “You lovebirds should try to get to dinner on time we can’t keep waiting for you to figure out your lives”

“What?” Alicia looked flustered. Charlie did too. Maybe it was the fact that she had just been walked in on by the only girl in this boat that could make her heart beat so goddamn fast. Maybe it was the way Madison winked right at Alicia with the look. Maybe it was the fact that she didn’t say anything to counterattack it. Maybe that’s why she dropped her crisps making Raven laugh hysterically. Alicia just sighed and picked on her food. Her leg, however, rested lightly next to Charlie’s and everything felt okay.


	19. Chapter 19

After dinner Charlie, Raven and Octavia sat around the dying fire with lazy smiles on their faces. They had spent the majority of dinner explaining exactly what had happened with Pike and the Ark. “But we have bigger news” Octavia said, touching Charlie’s shoulder gently, and giving Raven a small nod.

“You might not like it” Raven added. “At all”

“Raven” Octavia shook her head. “Look Charlie I know this is going to be difficult for you to hear. But Raven and I decided”

“Together”

“Yeah together decided to kind of cool it for a while”

“Yeah we loved the sex but we realized we were really good friends and the sex was kind of making it complicated to just, you know, be friends” Raven’s face looked very earnest while Octavia looked worried. Charlie on the other hand just laughed hysterically. She laughed to the point where she got the attention of Strand who sat lonely reading a book inside the captain’s quarters. “What?” Raven asked. “O I think she lost it”

“You mean to tell me” Charlie said between a fit of laughter, bent over, as the two girls started to have mild panic above her. “That you two never dated. This whole time” the girl could barely get her words out. “This is precious”

“Charlie I understand that this may be hard for you” Octavia looked absolutely worried as the girl’s laughter didn’t cease. 

“I missed you two so much” Charlie said giving them a conjoined hug. Octavia and Raven had a habit of ‘breaking up’ and getting back together. They had been doing so for more than three years. This was nothing different than before. “I can’t believe you are here” The other two laughed and Raven punched Charlie lightly on the ribs. 

“Is it sad that the entire foundation for the last ten years of our lives has just fallen away and I don’t care one bit” Raven said with a little smile. “Everyone I care about is safe… and two out of the four people are right here with me” Nobody spoke. Charlie nodded in agreement knowing fully well that she meant Will and Abby. Everyone they loved were safe and on the way to safety. “Thank you for coming”

“You’ll have to thank them” Charlie said. “Mostly Alicia she was really the one commanding this rescue”

“Sounds like she’s commanding a lot more than the rescue” Octavia smirked. She poked the fire with the sword Raven had fashioned for her. “You would fall in love with a civilian but with your track record I’m surprised she’s a brunette…she must be really special”

“Shut up” Raven smiled, “I’m single now… Charlie and I can resume our dating. I should be the only brunette she’s ever touched”

“No way, no no way, never again. You made me do a lot of stuff Reyes and I was simply not ready for that much stuff” Charlie spoke with a very cheeky smirk. Octavia laughed. “I’m single and ready to mingle. What happens when we hit Hawaii and all the lassies want a piece of this”

“You’ll probably excuse yourself and go read a book because you’re so obviously in love with Alicia” Raven said with an air of expertise. Charlie shrugged In agreement. “Your brother wanted you to know everything is okay he will get in contact as soon as he can but we do have some updates. Your dad arrived safely, your papa was already on board by the time we left, and Abby was going with them. They’ve gone to find Luna. She’s offered to house the rest of the people for a little while. But she’s asked we keep weapons off her rig”

“Leave it up to a Greenpeace activist to shack up in an oil rig during the end of the world” Octavia added giving the tall girl a light squeeze on the shoulder. Charlie didn’t want to say anything. She knew her family, all of it that mattered anyway, was safe but somehow it still hurt to think she’d never be able to go home. The Ark was gone. Everything on it that mattered, at least, had been fried to a crisp. The killswitch was lethal. At best it left an empty shell of a vessel and made it impossible for anybody to try and take over the boat. The radiation level alone would have made it dangerous for anybody to approach it. Before the silence became too awkward the tall girl made eye contact with a pair of green eyes who approached them with a bottle of water and something else in her hand. Alicia smiled at the group and Raven made an inappropriate comment earning her a slap to the back of the head by Octavia. Charlie scooted over on the bench to make room for the girl. 

“Make it stop!” Alicia said handing Charlie a beeping apple watch. “Here I think you might have forgotten your medicine and I don’t want you throwing up all over the place” she handed Charlie the pill bottle and the girl blushed furiously upon receiving it. She turned off the notification on the watch and took the pill bottle. 

“Actually I weaned myself down the last few days. I take it once a day I just forgot the alerts were on three times” She said but took a gracious swig off the bottle of water earning a surprised look from Raven and Octavia who knew fully well what they were supposed to do. Charlie might have fooled the Abigail but Raven and Octavia knew better. She was not blocking her hormones which meant she was fully in control of her body. All of her body, well at least the parts that allowed her control. “Where is everyone?” Patting down on the seat next to her she watched as the slender girl took a seat next to her and stole the bottle back only to have a drink herself.

“ They think you three are out here catching up and wanted to give you privacy” Alicia shrugged, “But that damn alarm has been going off for an hour and I called it. My mom thinks I’m being rude but I doubt you guys care, right?”

“Nope beautiful its good to see your face” Raven said with a coy smile. This earned her a very obvious eye roll from Alicia who then couldn’t help but smile and blush. “So tell me Alicia… when we get to Hawaii what do you plan on doing?”

“What do you mean? We are staying on the Island right?”

“Nope the Island is not safe but we are stopping in to see if we can fuel up to get to Luna’s safe haven out in the open water” Octavia explained. “Will has arranged the whole thing. It’s more of a peaceful commune. We’re taking all civilians there right now and some of us are staying. I am not, I will probably kill someone if I have to stay with that hippy and eat vegan pancakes every day, besides I want to head back to land and see if any of the Ark survived” 

“What about you?” Alicia asked, she phrased the question at Raven and Charlie, but her eyes were set on the tall girl. 

“I’m with stupid” Raven said with a shrug. Octavia smirked.

“I am not sure” Charlie said with a smile. “I don’t think its right for me to stay there but I don’t see anywhere else I can go right now. Luna might be a little weird but she’s nice enough to let us all stay with her… at the same time I am the Captain of the Ark and have a duty to go and assess the damages done on land. The Ark is off-limits and probably sank to the bottom of the ocean by now. But we have to see the land bases”

“Right” Alicia added but her face said something else. Charlie couldn’t help but giving her a light smile. 

“I’m sure Charlie wouldn’t mind you sticking around sweetheart. With a few push ups and a couple of days learning how to fire a weapon you look like the type of girl ready for an adventure” Raven smiled. Charlie was genuinely surprised at the honest kindness in her voice. “Come on O. We’ve got to start mapping out a way out of here and I have to try and find out how much fuel we’ve got” She stood up and took the other girl’s hand walking away without really saying goodbye. Charlie watched them go and sighed a little knowing fully well that in a week they would be back together again. 

“I would want to go with you” Alicia broke her gaze away from the pair who now were busy kicking Strand out of the cabin. “If that’s okay? I’ve never really fired a gun and gym was my worse subject but I never had a reason to try. I don’t really see myself having a future here. Actually up until now my future has always been decided by all the small details of life… I want to make this decision for myself… and my self wants to go with you” Alicia poked at the fire with the metal spear Octavia left behind. Charlie smiled to herself and tried her best not to get sentimental. Alicia’s green eyes were afire. When they met her own she felt the weight of the entire world dissipate at once. 

“I would like that” she said in a hushed whisper. Alicia smiled and looked back down into the fire. Charlie wished she had something better to say. Something more captivating. Instead she felt herself move closer to the girl and allow her to use her shoulder as a headrest. 

“Want to hear a poem?” Charlie finally asked. Her heart fluttered at the way they sat around the dying fire and Alicia’s closed eyes showed a moment of peace that she knew would soon be broken. 

“Only if its your favourite poem” She said with a small smile, her eyes still closed, and her body pressed gently in the comfort of Charlie’s sturdy body. The way she spoke reminded Charlie of their late night conversations over the small, dusty, radio. Her heart fluttered but her mind was very still. 

 

“If ever any beauty I did see,  
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.  
And now good-morrow to our waking souls,  
Which watch not one another out of fear;  
For love, all love of other sights controls,  
And makes one little room an everywhere.  
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,  
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,  
Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.  
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,  
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;  
Where can we find two better hemispheres,  
Without sharp north, without declining west?  
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;  
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I  
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die”

 

“That’s the poem scribbled into the leather book you leant to me” Alicia looked up at Charlie who sat with a lazy smile on her face. “I love it” she sighed. “I bet you you’ve read this poem to all the girl’s you’ve been with… you Casanova” She smiled and leaned back against Charlie whose smile could not have been bigger. She had read this poem, only once, to another girl. A blonde haired girl whose laugh could still be heard in the dead of night—a girl whose name now constantly haunts her as her heart trembles as it hears it over and over again in the surname of another. Clarke. Clark. Clarke. Clark. Soon it would not know the difference. 

“I’ve only been with one girl besides Raven, who I didn’t sleep with, well not exactly” Charlie said and felt her cheeks blush at the sudden revelation. “Well, I’ve been set up with plenty of girls before, but only have been with one” she explained and felt her stomach drop a little at the words. Now Alicia knew she was inexperienced in bed at best and probably not the dream she had convinced herself Charlie had been.

“Clarke” Alicia said with closed eyes. 

“Clarke” Charlie repeated and closed her eyes allowing her body to really feel the dying heat. 

“Clarke was a lucky girl” Alicia smiled. 

“Not as lucky as I”

“Lets go to bed” Alicia said with a small smile. Charlie knew she meant her bed, and that she was invited as always. 

“I have to go help Raven and Octavia with the mapping” Charlie couldn’t help but sounding a little disappointed. Alicia smiled put a hand on her shoulder before getting up. 

“Let’s go help Raven and Octavia” reaching for Charlie’s hand and practically dragging her up from the seat. Charlie followed her lead and couldn’t help but smile giddily as they walked hand in hand into the cabin where Raven and Octavia sat sprawled over maps looking quite pleased with themselves.


	20. Chapter 20

Daniel Salazar had always prided himself in his ability to keep his family safe. Loosing his wife had changed that. He became obsessed with keeping his daughter alive and it caused him to loose the confident swagger he once had. Now with the boat run by merely a pack of children he felt quite sour. It wasn’t until Charlie approached him one morning holding a few bags with guns and ammo and asked for his help at arming the boat that he started to grow a liking to the young girl. Now he sat next to her cleaning off a M16 while she talked to him about possible terrain and walker situations on an island and laughed as she made a joke that roughly reminded him of one of his commanders in the army. He was comfortable. Charlie felt that and she leant back on her chair with a big smile.

“Are you telling me that little girl can build us weapons?” Daniel said raising an eyebrow. “She weighs about ten pounds on a good day”

“Octavia is the best” Charlie said with a proud smile. “We’ll have to scrap some of the metals from the boat but she can take two sticks, a shoelace, and a small stone and turn it into something ruthless” Octavia sat across the table and gave the old man a thumbs up. Raven who sat next to her rolled her eyes and continued her intense mapping of the beach they were headed to. 

“Oahu” she interrupted the conversation with a little bit of sass. Alicia and Nick entered the kitchen and took their usual spots, Alicia by Charlie and Nick next to Ofelia. The boy shot Raven a look as she clearly made noticeable heart eyes at Ofelia who was completely impervious to her gayness. “Some sand, surf, and bikini weather” she continued and Octavia rolled her eyes.

“Could also be infested with walkers”

“Or paradise lost” Raven added. Charlie scoffed. Jesus even for Raven she was being extra, flirty, annoying. “Listen up folks. We’ve got to be prepared for anything and I feel as though some of us” she stared at Nick, “need the help”

“What she means” Charlie cut in “Is that in less than two days we are going to be back in a shitstorm. Now we could be in the eye of it, where its all calm, but like any shit storm the eye moves from place to place and leaves people in the middle of--- “

“Shit” Alicia added and Charlie nodded. Madison opened her mouth to chastise her daughter for the language but was held back by a small laugh Travis gave out as he almost spilled coffee onto himself. Octavia gave them the tiniest smirk. Charlie rolled her eyes. 

“Yes. So we need to find out what each can and can’t do. Like Chris… you’re great at many things, but you cannot be counted on for carrying heavy loads, and Travis you’re no crackshot, and even if you were, you are still having trouble killing off those biters because of your tremendous heart” Raven said with a small smile. She meant well, Charlie knew that, but Travis looked shocked. 

“How do you figure that?” The man almost sounded hurt.

“Sorry” Madison mouthed to him. “She asked and I had to tell her”

“Mama Clark… you’d be a great fighter if you just accepted your children were not babies” Raven continued as though nothing was wrong, “Daniel’s secret past is enough to make me want to hide under a rock. Ofelia is a cutey, but she can’t run to save our lives. Strand is an opportunist at best. Octavia is afraid of heights. Charlie tends to look after the others before her own self and Alicia…. my precious cinnamon roll… is a sass princess”

“Watch it” Alicia said raising an eyebrow.

“Okay now that you’ve made us all feel good about ourselves” Charlie said growing red. She was embarrassed Raven had let out a secret about her she had barely even noticed herself. “Care to tell us how we are to get there?”

“Aye captain” Raven rolled out a long blueprint with the Abigail’s inner workings sketched out to perfection. She smirked and waited until everyone was focused on her before she began to speak. Charlie didn’t notice her arm slip comfortably around Alicia’s side, her hands resting at the girl’s waist. Alicia settled comfortably into her and the faint smell of coconut coming from her hair was enough for Charlie to drift away with Raven’s exited tirades about pistons and water chambers. She was never keen on engineering. She studied how Alicia’s hair was slightly golden at the bottom. It was being bleached by the sun. Her skin was also glowing and she had a small, very kissable, freckle on her lip. Her throat dried up at the thought and she caught herself from swooning. Alicia turned to her and Charlie blushed. Then looking back into a pool of green was woken up by a very harsh knock upside the head.

“That should do it” Nick said with a grin. Alicia opened her mouth to yell at him and was interrupted by Raven’s loud laugh.

“I like him he can stay” Octavia said.

“So what do you think Captain?”

“Green” Charlie answered in a small voice and felt her cheeks grow warm. “Like seafoam”

“What?” Chris snorted. It was Alicia’s turn to grow a bright tomato red.

“I mean yes” Charlie said. She cleared her throat and moved away from the girl… to pour herself some coffee with shaky hands. “Sounds positively good that whole bit does… yes, jolly green, good I mean”

“Green?” Raven asked and Madison rolled her eyes in a fashion that was way too much like her daughter. “What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” Raven was playing stupid but her smirk said so otherwise. Alicia rolled her eyes and excused herself to go shower. Ofelia giggled and gave her a wink as she walked by.

“The map is blue” Chris said obliviously causing more chuckles to erupt. Daniel cocked a gun and turned its clip to safety before taking out another one apart, he had the closest thing to a smirk on his face.

“Green” Travis looked at his fiancée with a knowing smirk. Madison laughed. Charlie avoided her altogether as she took the last mug of fresh coffee out into the open to collect herself before she addressed the group again. She kicked herself in the head for having a lack of professionalism. But yes, Alicia’s eyes, they were so damn green. 

“That’s the colour of my daughters eyes” Madison said as she walked by Charlie who tried to make very little eye contact on her way out. She pressed a kiss to Charlie’s burning face at the door, and took her coffee mug from her, giving her a knowing look that made Charlie hold her breath in. The group broke out into a final fit of laughter and Charlie walked out into the fading sunlight with a smile on her face. She had loved getting lost in the sea.


	21. Chapter 21

“When we get to the island there is a small chance we will break into groups” Charlie said. “Probably three groups. Raven, Octavia and I will lead the three safe boats onto land and Strand will anchor the Abigail in a hidden safe spot and meet up with his group. If there is none than we will anchor about three miles from land and will have to row in. Raven was able to build three short distance communicators and we will pick a spot on the map to meet up after three days time. We will split up rations between the groups…” Charlie continued on as the group sat around a dinner fire. After their most terrible attempt at talking over high tea, which left Charlie in a rather giddy mood, she had been able to catch a few salt water fish and two eels. She wasn’t going to eat any of it and instead opted to have a Cliff bar and water. Alicia forced her into having a bite of fish and she did, only to feel quite queasy, and spending quite a while threatening to vomit. So she resorted to speaking about their plans to keep herself busy and the girl from trying to make her eat any more seafood. 

“Well how do we choose the groups?”

“Easy we draw from a hat. That way its fair. Nobody complains, nobody tries to pick favourites” Raven’s eye shot at Charlie and she looked down immediately. 

“When do we draw?” Alicia asked looking quite sick. Charlie could tell she hated the plan. 

“Two seconds before we leave the ship” Raven added. She was lying down on the floor near the fire. Her head resting on Octavia’s lap with a lazy smile. 

“But we won’t get to say proper goodby—“ Alicia started to speak but was interrupted.

“We are not going to go away forever princess” Octavia said with a wise smirk. “We’re going to stay with your family and cause all kinds of trouble, you can bet on that”

“Still… nothing wrong with us being able to make peace with the people we might not see again” She kept her eyes off Charlie. Madison didn’t and looked heartbroken. She looked at Charlie for her daughter and rubbed her back whispering ‘it’s okay’

“Long goodbyes are painful Leesh” Strand added. “Their plan is good. In the middle of a shitstorm we don’t have time to feel pain. We just think about surviving” He seemed to have touched a soft spot in everyone and they all stared at the fire for a bit. Alicia’s eyes travelled to Charlie who did everything in her power not to stare back. Charlie’s neck had grown red and her throat bobbed as she swallowed dryly. 

“And we don’t need to say goodbye” Charlie said staring intently into the fire. “Nobody is dying today, nobody is dying tomorrow, or the next day. We will journey together into this apocalypse and we will stay safe. If separated, we need not worry, for we will meet again” she looked over at Alicia and her lips twitched into a small reassuring smile. “I promised you all a safe passage” Strand clapped Charlie in the back and kept digging into his food with gusto. “I intend on keeping that promise” These words made a teary eyed Raven roll her eyes. She then kept the conversation going until it died again and they all stared at the fire. They only had two more days until Hawaii. Two days until they would find safety or all hell would break loose, again. 

“But that’s crazy. Why would we split up? We do better as a group, together, more brains more weapons… we love each other, we would look out for each other, this is madness” Alicia looked flustered and put down her plate. She said exactly what Charlie had in the beginning of the meeting with Raven. 

“But we cover more land in three” Octavia said taking a particularly wet and nasty bite of eel. This made Charlie nauseous. “And love makes us weak. People die protecting those they love. When its random, when the odds are even, people are able to think rationally. Besides, we will have three kickass teams. We are all capable of bearing our weight in some way or another. We need to keep the odds balanced”

“I like that idea” Daniel added, “The more ground we cover the more likely we are to find things, and as long as we find a meeting place, we should be okay. Good plan” The man said unenthused. Alicia didn’t seem very enthused at all. Charlie watched as she stared into the fire. The conversation picked up again as Octavia bit into another wet eel spot and the juice landed on Raven’s cheek. Raven threw a nasty fit and Travis had to keep himself from vomiting as Octavia spit out bits of eel into the fire. Alicia used the commotion to step away. Charlie watched her leave the group and climb the rickety set of rope stairs leading to the roof of the captain’s cabin on the Abigail. She pulled the rope up with her. Charlie knew she was upset about the plan.

“Go” Ofelia whispered not looking at Charlie. “She doesn’t care about splitting from any of us. God a vacation from her mom and Nick would be perfect for her. She just doesn’t want to be without you. You’re good for her, and she needs someone like you at her side, someone who is not going to undermine her feelings and actions and treat her like a prize. She doesn’t need a hero, she needs you, she needs someone to fight with her”

“Why are you telling me this?” Charlie said looking a little dumbstruck. She looked up at the cabin where she could barely make out the tip of Alicia’s head staring out into the ocean. She wondered if she should go up there and join her. What would she be able to offer her as comfort? She didn’t have much to give besides a promise but last time she promised someone anything they ended up dead. Clarke Griffin was dead. She couldn’t allow herself to seal her fate to Alicia because she didn’t want her to die too.

“Because you’re still sitting here debating whether you are good enough for her when the answer is evident. You’re no idiot Charles Windsor, go and get your girl” 

“Ofelia, I—“

“You are the Captain. You can do anything” Ofelia said and gave Charlie a much needed shove towards the cabin. Nobody seemed to notice as she slipped out into the darkness heading towards Alicia. She steadied her beating heart and looked up at the approaching cabin knowing fully that were she to climb and comfort the girl, her heart would have no objections to falling in love. She was ready for it. 

\--- 

Alicia Clark did not know how she ended up here staring into the endless ocean and dreading the inevitable arrival into land, when land was all she had been praying for. How had she managed to allow herself to fall in love in the worst place possible. She had promised herself that she couldn’t handle another Matt. She had promised herself that she would grow hard and strong but here she was, sitting on her own, waiting for her prince to come save her. But she didn’t exactly meet a prince in her ocean adventure. She met a duke, who happened to be a girl, and whose arms just happened to feel like home. Now everything felt like it was coming undone. They were to split and were she to be separated from Charlie she would be split too. Her family would be gone, and though she was strong enough to survive on her own, her heart felt weak and needed Charlie’s to heal. It was selfish but she couldn’t help it. Why did Charlie have to come around with her obnoxious smile and idiot English accent and dreamy bicoloured eyes. Why did Charlie own her heart already when it took Matt a whole year of trying before she could even start to open up to him. Did she even have Charlie’s heart? Her thoughts were treacherous. She knew she was in too deep and might just drown. She felt herself drowning until she heard a light grunt and a ‘fucking hell, what a tall bit of ledge this is’, which made her stomach turn and a light laugh escape her lips. Then her heart dropped as she watched Charlie hoist herself up the ledge of the cabin’s roof and raced as the girl shot her an effortless smile. 

“Thought you couldn’t strain your shoulder?” Alicia tried to keep her voice steady. Despite her being shaky it wasn’t hard to do considering she had mastered the sass, and it was hard not to give sass when it was very clear that Captain Amazing was showing off her very well mastered strength. Alicia licked her lips feeling they were very dry. She rolled her eyes as Charlie did a little pull up and gave her a wink. Showoff. 

“Who said I was straining anything?” Charlie’s lips curled into a facetious smile and Alicia held her breath as she finally came up the ledge and sat close to her, in fact, closer than she had ever sat before. Charlie’s arm draped lazily across her shoulder and the girl couldn’t help but to lean into the tall girl with a soft breath that was barely audible. Neither of them spoke but both stared out into the night afraid to look at each other. Charlie was, much to Alicia’s liking, the first to break the tension and say “you okay, love?” in a way that made her body melt. 

“No” she admitted trying very hard to keep her composure. “I just, don’t want to loose, you know… what we have here, we’ve all bonded so much these days it would be a shame to… you know… split like meant nothing” she muttered. Like you and I meant nothing, she thought, and now our story is ending and there is nothing I can do about it. 

“I’m not a fan of the group splitting either. I mean it hurts to know that I might be stuck with Nick and Chris on this little expedition, and have to carry one up half the time while keeping the other on a leash” Charlie’s joke was sweet but did very little to soothe Alicia. She just wanted to be with Charlie. She wanted to tell Charlie she wanted to be with her, but the words didn’t come, her brain still wanted to be guarded despite what her heart kept demanding. “I want you on my team” Charlie said with a sheepish look. “I actually begged Raven and Octavia but they wanted me to be fair despite my wants. They reminded me, as captain, I had to set an example. Still it doesn’t stop me from wanting you, does it?” 

“You want me?” Alicia asked. Charlie blushed. Alicia didn’t. She looked at the girl in front of her with all the fondness in the world. She wanted Charlie too. She wanted her and the answer to her question had been there all along and she finally received it. “You want me” she stated, the words getting caught in her breath.

“More than anything in this world” Charlie said with a small smile. Her cheeks looked super flushed and the space between them became too far. Alicia wasn’t sure who was the first to move in but when she felt Charlie’s warm lips upon her own it didn’t matter anymore, nothing mattered. She became one with the endless ocean and allowed her body to drift closer to this creature before her that had somehow, someway, made her heart stop completely. Charlie’s hands were soft, but strong, and they seemed to be the only thing holding Alicia up. Her kiss was gentle, sent sparks through every fibre of Alicia Clark’s body, but it wasn’t enough for the green eyed girl. No. She wanted more. She felt herself straddle the girl under her and deepened said kiss as Charlie gripped at her waist to steady her shaking body. Alicia was crying and smiling, a complete mess, melting into this girl she was sure she had been slowly falling in love with. She pulled away momentarily as she felt her tears escape her only to find Charlie’s loving eyes upon her as though nothing else existed. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed in slowly and Alicia blushed knowing exactly why. She felt it pressing against her and felt herself rock a little into it causing a crimson flush to spread from Charlie’s neck onto her lovely face. 

“I-“ Charlie stammered, “I… I’m so, sorry” she said and Alicia couldn’t help but smirk facetiously and press down harder, much harder, so it even drew out a little gasp from the well composed captain.

“I’m not” she said using her weight to rock on the girl’s lap a little. She knew it was a tease and felt Charlie twitch under her. Friction. Alicia knew how to use it well to her advantage. “I don’t think you have to be sorry either, love, we’re both adults here” she leaned into Charlie’s ear and pressed a kiss right under it, shuddering, knowing fully well she was playing with fire. She didn’t want to make the girl uncomfortable but wanted her to know she was wanted, all of her was wanted, and she didn’t know how else to say it. “We could lock Ofelia out tonight if you wanted to?” 

“Are you sure?” Charlie asked. Alicia responded by trailing kisses down her neck. It had been quite a while since her body had been craving contact. She was soaked and had a feeling Charlie knew what she was doing as she had been gently sneaking her hands up her shirt, feeling her whole body with such a tenderness, Alicia was begging for more. 

“Damn Clark, take a girl out first!” Came the yell that ended it all sending the brunette flying off of Charlie’s lap and onto the other side of the roof. Octavia had climbed, a little more clumsily than Charlie had, and stood with her hands on her hips looking at them as though she had found treasure. “I never knew you were such a bottom Captain Crunch. But then again this patootie has a wild side doesn’t she? I’ll call you Commander” she winked at Alicia who rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose trying to not commit murder. 

“Octavia what are you doing here?” Charlie asked calmly. Alicia noticed she crossed her legs and sat uncomfortably. 

“Making sure we don’t add another member to this pack” Octavia said with a facetious smirk. 

“O!”

“I’m just saying. Wrap it before you tap it Charles, it’s the right and proper thing to do”

“We weren’t even”

“Not yet. I saved your asses from having a post apocalyptic oopsie” Octavia sat down making herself comfortable. “Besides we all could see you two going at it I just wanted Alicia’s mom’s eyes to keep in her head is all. Blind people tend to die off quickly in these situations”

 

“Oh god” Alicia swallowed. “I’m going to go die now” she said trying not to further embarrass herself. She stood up and found a group staring deadpan at her. Strand was laughing hysterically as Raven rubbed Madison’s back, Travis avoided looking right at Alicia and was holding in either a laugh or a fart, Chris and Nick were shaking hands and congratulating each other as Daniel pretended not to look out of decency and Ofelia took a 20 dollar bill and passed it over to a very pleased looking Raven. Raven waved and Alicia’s jaw hit the floor as she let down the steel stairs and climbed down swiftly. She looked back at Charlie whose smouldering look, combined with a flush face, and uncomfortable seating was enough to cause her to laugh. “I’ll be in my room Captain. A lady doesn’t like to be kept waiting” she said with a wink as she descended the steps and made Octavia’s jaw drop, too, with a small grin. She didn’t need to look back to see the reaction she had caused. You could the wake from the explosion she had caused from a thousand miles away.


	22. Chapter 22

You’re going to be steering the boat tonight because according to Octavia and wannabe Captain Strand I need a break, to sleep, like I’m a child” Raven looked quite apologetic as Charlie climbed down to meet the rest of the family. Madison raised an eyebrow at her and she flushed. The woman laughed and her darling boy Nick clapped Charlie on the shoulder as they walked by, to the kitchens, with a pile of dishes she was going to wash while the boy inevitably ignored drying. Charlie smiled and felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. “I know you want to spend a night with your boo thang. But can you imagine how much better your first time would be when she could scream your name as loud as her little lungs allowed. Come on. Don’t be stupid. You and I both know you’d regret not giving her the ride of her life in the perfect setting, at the right time, preferably not when her mother is next door and everyone on the boat is listening in”

“Oh my, Raven please” Charlie could not blush any harder. “Stop” she said. “I’ll take your bloody shift I just… I need a shower first” she said quietly. 

“Yeah you do” Raven laughed. “A cold one babygirl. Do it quick before it snaps in half”

“Raven” Charlie huffed as she felt a strong pair of hands touch her lower back and click her teeth at the golden skinned girl whose wise ass ways were at full power because of what Charlie had just allowed everyone to witness.

“The proof is in the pudding sweet thing. I’ll make sure to stay at least a 300 metres away from the bath so my eye doesn’t get poked out” the girl winked with a naughty smirk and was lead away by an apologetic looking Octavia who had joined in at the last minute of their very short lived conversation. Charlie retired to the main bathroom feeling a little tired, annoyed, and very uncomfortable. She wanted to go at least say good night to Alicia after 20 minutes of an icy shower from hell, but found it impossible to get past Strand, who had a game of twenty one questions and a determination to keep her from ruining the boat. Ruining the boat. She helped run a destroyer and he was worried about his stupid boat. The thing was a dinghy compared to the Ark and she could have piloted the thing herself were it not for its massive command board. 

“She still has a little gas left in her and should get us to Hawaii” the man was going on and on as Charlie looked impatiently over his head staring at the doorway leading into Alicia’s room. The light was still on. She had a chance to at least catch in and let Alicia have a little look. She had slipped on to a nice button up, sea foam green with small chequered white patterns, navy blue shep shirt and a pair of grey tight fitting chinos. She tied the outfit together with a sea foam green corded cloth belt with little navy blue anchors, and slipped on to her boat shoes, so that if anything she felt cute even though her plans with Alicia had fallen through. Octavia said she looked like a prat. Raven pat her bum as she walked to the cabin; but the look she got from Madison made her feel quite happy. She was clean cut, even at the end of the world, and goddamn it if Alicia was to really like her she wanted her to see her for whom she was before it all ended. “And lastly Captain Windsor… if you and Alicia do anything in my cabin I promise, no I swear, I will tie you to that lifeboat your friends were caught drifting in and tow your preppy ass back to Santa Monica and leave you to the walkers” Strand sounded serious, and muttered something else about ‘sex on my boat… nobody defiles my baby girl’. Charlie smiled and nodded and waited for the talk to be over. 

She walked over to the door just in time to see the light go off. Standing in the hallway, feeling quite like the idiot, she walked away with her head down and hands stuffed deep into her pockets. She headed towards the captain’s quarters and settled on the driver’s seat of the boat. She set up their trajectory and allowed herself a moment of silent mourning before she put on a serious face and got to work. Steering the boat in the incoming darkness was a little rough, specially since the sea wasn’t particularly keen on cooperating, and she had to keep the boat at a steady and quite slow speed—running on neutral when she caught wind—just to keep conserving gas power. She liked steering the boat standing up at the large wheel. Turning the fog lights on she set on towards the oncoming endlessness and failed to notice a pair of particularly curious green eyes study her from the doorway. 

\--

 

Alicia stood watching the girl in front of her with a little awe, and a lot of want, mixed with frustration and fondness. Her mother had met up with her and begged her, actually it was more like almost forced her, to promise to ‘not fall so hard at a time like this’ which was mother speak for ‘keep it in your pants’. She didn’t promise anything, not when the Captain had a habit of looking like an east coast JCrew model, and kissed like Aphrodite herself. She wanted to get away but instead found herself slipping onto a comfortable, nautical almost, dress she had packed for herself with a grey cardigan and fixing her hair a thousand times before Ofelia kicked her out of her room. She didn’t know what to pack but figured every girl needed a dress at some point. A childish thought but one that made her want to go back in time and kiss herself for being so stupid. She watched as Charlie started to first whistle a very old and well clichéd sea song, and then sing said song, and couldn’t help but to crack a smile. She would. She would be singing Dead Man’s Chest as she sailed the sea. She was perfect.

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest  
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum  
Drink and the devil had done for the rest  
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.  
The mate was fixed by the bosun's pike  
The bosun brained with a marlinspike  
And cookey's throat was marked belike  
It had been gripped by fingers ten;  
And there they lay, all good dead men  
Like break o'day in a boozing ken  
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

“You kept a lady waiting Captain, how unbecoming” Alicia interrupted the girl as she was mid whistle. She watched, as Charlie turned around a bit stunned, and quite flushed, though she had been caught doing something awfully naughty. “But that’s okay because you charmed her with your knowledge of sea songs and the way you managed to keep your shorts ironed at a time when most of us could barely take a warm shower” Alicia had to be sassy. She might feel smitten but there was no way she’d let Charlie have the upper hand. Not when she looked like the Harvard cuties who would sometimes vacation in California and, though she hated admitting, always caught her attention. The New England snootiness to their outfits was something she found quite bothersome in a guy, but in a girl, irresistible. 

“I’m so sorry princess, next time I will send word to you” Charlie mocked a little bow and held the wheel steady as Alicia approached her. “Isn’t it a bit late for you to be out and about?”

“I’m not the royal one here. A peasant has no curfew” Alicia smirked as she allowed herself the courage to take the wheel from Charlie, who stepped back, and allowed her to take reign of the controls for a bit. Alicia noticed, however, Charlie had simply taken a step back and the gap between their bodies was quite slim so she did the obvious and leaned back against the girl who responded by steadying herself placing soft hands on Alicia’s hips. “I’ve never steered before” Alicia said as their bodies seemed to get comfortable in their close proximity. Charlie helped her steady the wheel by placing one of her hands on Alicia’s. 

“Well I can tell you this, I would have never known so otherwise” Charlie said quietly as Alicia seemed to be holding her own. Alicia smiled and turned slightly to kiss Charlie’s cheek. The kiss caught the tall girl’s neck instead and she felt the reaction she caused as Charlie gripped the wheel a bit tighter. “You look beautiful in that dress”

“Oh so it’s the dress? You’re charming aren’t you.” Alicia kept her voice steady. Inside she shook. Charlie had never complemented her in such a way before. The husky sound of her quiet voice was something she could never get tired of hearing. 

“I bet you’d look better without it darling, but I didn’t want to be crass” Jesus. Alicia blushed and heard Charlie’s soft laughter behind her. 

“What does this lever thing do anyway Captain?” she ignored the comment but allowed herself to melt a little more into Charlie’s arms before she pulled away. Two could play at that game. She knew how to get the girl worked up and now planned on it. 

“Try it” Charlie said pulling away from her slightly but remaining in contact. Alicia pulled the lever causing the boat to accelerate rapidly. This motion, and the oncoming wave, caused her to be thrown back a little into Charlie’s arms and she could not help but laugh. Alicia immediately decreased the speed on the boat and kissed her cheek sheepishly. Her body shuddered knowing one little hit wasn’t enough to satisfy the craving.

“You jerk” she said feigning contempt. 

“I’m sorry” The tall girl hid a smile, helping her to steady the wheel again. Charlie had kept one hand on her hip and at the moment Alicia imagined said hand travelling all over her body, and her body felt on fire, she wasn’t going to be able to hold it in her pants like that if the Captain played this new game the way she was. She allowed the Captain to keep one hand on the wheel but turned to her so that her face was pressed into the warmth of her shep shirt. Charlie’s lips were quick to find hers and Alicia allowed her hands to roam up her body and settle draping over her neck as she was almost lifted off the ground. Charlie was tall and strong, and beautiful, and the kiss was sending goosebumps down her spine and up her legs. But the moment passed as she heard a soft clearing of the throat as Octavia walked into the cabin followed by a very cheeky looking Ofelia.

“You guys are so cute I’m in pain” Octavia said softly. She smiled at the pair and Alicia knew behind that smile was an apology. 

“You two are adorable”

“Ofelia and I have skipper’s duties tonight. Ofelia asked to come because she wanted to learn. Strand asked that we came right away because the ocean was a little rough and we might need to anchor this baby down” This made Alicia roll her eyes and keep her body pressed tight to Charlie’s for a moment. Strand just didn’t like the idea that some people could actually be having a nice time. He was a killjoy. She was bitter and felt so frustrated she was wondering if she could have their room to herself. The thought made her flush. When had she become so damn needy? Charlie smiled at the pair and politely had told them to make themselves comfortable, then allowed Alicia to once again take the wheel, reminding her politely not to pull the lever. 

“Jerk face” Alicia mouthed and smiled mostly to herself. 

“The ocean is rough but Captain Clark has a steady hand” Charlie told Octavia, in her most pratty upper crust accent, who smiled at the pair and then turned to some blueprints laid on the desk before her. 

“Good we’re going to need it” Another voice joined in. Raven. “The baromic pressure is suggesting we are in for a fucking night. You lovebirds should go and get changed. We’re going to need all hands on deck, and your Nantucket Nectars attire aren’t going to cut it. “Alicia’s mouth dropped a little. Raven had just compared her to a pratty juice. The girl was awful, and were it not for the fact she was the reason she wasn’t in bed with the Captain on their last few nights together, she would have found her hilarious. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?” Alicia couldn’t help herself. The sassy bitch in her couldn’t hide it anymore. She was having a nice moment. She was enjoying herself and now it was gone. 

“Yep. Decided to test the weather because my bad leg felt a little off. We’ve got a storm coming our way girlies. Let’s get settled for it”

“Come on Leeshy. boat shoes, though aptly named as such, are actually horrible in a boat because they slip all over the place when in contact with water” Charlie smiled and let Raven take over the wheel as she led Alicia out of the cabin. Alicia allowed herself to go because she wanted a few moments alone with Charlie, even if it was just to get dressed once again before they took off into the storm. “Can I change in your room?”

“Yeah someone moved your stuff there tonight anyway”

“Nick?”

“Nick” Alicia repeated. 

“That brilliant fucker” Charlie said and pulled Alicia into another unexpected, heated, and much deserved kiss. They thought they were far enough away from the cabin to not be spotted. Charlie, the sweet and gentle Charlie, pressed Alicia up against the wall in a way that made the brunette loose her mind. She had wanted that all along and responded by draping her arms around Charlie’s neck and pulling herself closer to the girl as her body responded in all the right ways. Charlie held on to her hips once again and pushed her up higher, so that she was being held only by their conjoined hips, and trailed kisses down the most sensitive parts of her neck. Alicia tried to hold back how uneven her breath really was but when the girl gave her a little love bite right below the ear she could not help herself, and half gasped, half moaned rocking her hips in response to the stimulation that proved to be quite overwhelming. When she pulled away, mostly because of the fact the wind had picked up and the boat was really unsteady, Alicia saw Charlie’s eyes were dark and her lips a little swollen. She heard the wind howl again and bit down on her own lip to suppress the want she knew was there. Her body hated everyone at the moment. 

“We’ve got an hour to get steady Captain. Might I suggest you take a rainchek on them fine sea titties?” Octavia bellowed, her voice thundering, followed by a howl of laughter coming from Ofelia and Raven.

“We have to go” Alicia said reluctantly, and the disappointment in her voice prompted another, soft kiss from the tall girl who took her hand and allowed her to lead the way. Somehow, in some way, she had a funny feeling the universe didn’t want her to be happy… not just yet.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've made it this far I just wanted to thank you for your time and patience. I am currently starting book 2 which introduces the woman of the hour, our heda, as well as our small bean Clarke-- I'm updating this whenever I have the time and am doing very little edits, if any, so I know there are boundless mistakes with both writing and overall content. But I'm content with it. Its my own creation and I'm glad I am sharing it. Hope you are too. 
> 
> \- always thankful, 
> 
> Harper Astley

“Murphy’s law is a bitch!” Alicia groaned as she found herself drenched in the torrent that almost capsized the large yacht, helping to lower the anchor, as her mother, brother, and sort of step-father held on to her slim body with a rope tied around her waist. Charlie laughed as she lowered most of the anchor on her own, finding that Alicia’s strength was impressive, yet not very helpful since the girl kept getting swept by the wind. After thirty minutes of yelling she had convinced her mother to allow her to help. Convinced her by carefully reminding the woman that she was one of the strongest, if not best, swimmers out there and that Charlie would have kept her safe regardless of the weather they were facing. The last proved to be a really tough argument considering Charlie was going to be tied up as well. But the blonde conceded since everyone didn’t seem too keen on going out into the storm and the blonde’s terrible hip was something she could not really risk nicking in the middle of a sea passage.

“I like Finagle’s law better dear, Anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment” Charlie quoted as she had to climb over the railing to get the anchor, which had unceremoniously gotten stuck on a piece of boat siding, and now clung a few feet above the water. “Like this piece of trash wanker anchor” she said giving it a hard kick, her hands gripping as tightly as they could to the wet rail, as the wind threatened to push her off. Alicia’s heart dropped. 

“What are you doing?” The brunette watched as the girl fixed her grip on to the railing and started to kick at the anchor with her free feet, each kick sent her flying, and another curse left her lips. “Charlie you’re doing some crazy shit right now. Stop” she commanded, but Charlie couldn’t hear her, not over the lightening and the wind. “Charles!” she barked as the girl gave the anchor another hard kick sending it down into the cold water. Alicia lurched forward as one of Charlie’s hand slipped and she sent a few choice expletives flying onto the wind as her body was thrown into the cold water. The rope tightened for a moment and Alicia heard Strand call for the group to pull harder. They did and she leaned over the edge looking for Charlie but the sea was rough. Then the captain’s body came above the water with a gasp that sent shudders down Alicia’s spine . “You idiot” Alicia held on to the tight bit of rope holding Charlie a few feet above the water. The group began pulling her up and her body crashed against the side of the boat as her limp body seemed to float over the water lifelessly, then Alicia heard the laughter in the wind. The captain bellowed as she was raised up slowly like a stuck whale. “You fucking idiot!”

“I’ve got bits of seaweed in my mouth” Charlie said. Her entire body was covered in the stuff. “and I think I might have swallowed a whole tuna fish” she laughed and used one hand to grip on to the siding, the other hung at her side limp, Alicia’s mouth dropped a little at the slightly disturbing sight in front of her knowing it was only the adrenaline keeping the girl from noticing her shoulder had almost been ripped from its socket in the fall . She climbed over the gunwale and into the deck of the boat. Alicia noticed her leg was bleeding as well. It wasn’t until Charlie lay on the floor that she noticed the girl make an odd movement with her shoulder, a small pop, and grunt sounding like something out of a horror movie. Alicia ran to her ignoring the group’s pleas to have them return inside. “Oh ploppers!” the girl shouted. 

“Charlie!” she heard Octavia’s scream and saw her run to them. Raven followed suit. Alicia helped Charlie lay on her lap as the two approached them. “What’s the problem? Is she conscious”

“Dislocated shoulder I think” Alicia shouted, “this fucking idiot has a dislocated shoulder” she said but didn’t sound angry, just worried. Alicia was glad for the rain because she thought she had been crying. Octavia and Raven looked at each other for a bit and then started to help Charlie up. Alicia helped by standing behind the group and giving them a push here and there. When they got inside the cabin she untied them and ran to help the pair of women put Charlie on the couch but was too late as she saw Charlie stand, being mostly held up by Raven, while Octavia held on to her limp arm. Alicia walked through the door like a hurricane but was barred by Ofelia and her mother.

“Let them set it first. Charlie doesn’t want you to see this. Come, lets get your bed set up for her, and you into a warm shower and clean clothes” Madison said virtually pushing Alicia aside as Ofelia gave her a hug and began to walk out of the room. Alicia looked back at the girl who couldn’t seem to look up at her and she knew Charlie was just ashamed to have been so weak. Her heart leapt as a set of bicoloured eyes turned up and the girl gave her a slight smile.

“This is going to hurt” Octavia said. 

“I know O, just get on with it” were Charlie’s last words as Alicia disappeared down the hallway. They heard the faint pop and gut wrenching scream tear through the thunder. Then they heard nothing and Alicia knew Charlie must have passed out from the pain. 

\---- 

When Charlie woke up the next day she found herself lying in the comfort of Alicia’s twin bed. She had been bathed, changed, and quite pampered the night before knowing fully well that she had made a rookie mistake and it had cost her a very good few weeks of her right arm and possibly the whole arm if Octavia had messed up in setting it. Thank fuck she was born a lefty. Thank fuck Octavia had taken the necessary medical combat training to learn how to heal these common strains. The pain in her shoulder was indescribable even with the sling Raven had unpacked and shoved her arm into. She smiled and watched as Alicia slept peacefully in Ofelia’s bed. Charlie noticed she was wearing Charlie’s grey Ark Captain teeshirt from a few nights ago. Her hair was carefully tucked to the side, and half her body hung off the bed as though she had only the time to fling herself across it before her body gave in to the much needed sleep she had craved. 

“Morning Jumper” came the familiar voice from the floor. She had heard quite the fill of new nicknames from the dark haired girl who seemed to ignore every social cue in the face of the planet. Raven sat up with wide beaming eyes and looked at Charlie with a face so smug even she knew how annoying she was being. “How’s your shoulder?”

“Hurts” Charlie said in what was perhaps the understatement of the year. “What are you doing on the floor?”

“Alicia, Octavia and I bathed you last night, don’t worry, I handled your lower half. Nothing I haven’t seen before. Then we tucked you in and took turns making sure you didn’t roll onto your set shoulder” Raven yawned and Charlie blushed. Still she was glad not to wake up in muck water. “Octavia woke up early to access the damage. It’s still pretty bad out there but the boat is anchored and hasn’t shifted so we are okay” Raven finished. “If you don’t mind I’m going to go take this moment to get some sleep and you need to just stay in bed until Octavia can get a look at that bum shoulder of yours” The girl stood up and stretched out groaning so loudly Alicia stirred and stood at attention waiting to find Charlie dead or something of the like. “Morning Nurse Clark, your patient has already woken up, seems fine but her swagger is at an all time low. I might suggest a little lovin, but that’s just me, I’m a sucker for girls with abs like steel” Raven said as she collected her things and left the pair staring at each other. Charlie blushed and didn’t know what to say. Alicia looked furious, and happy, and quite flustered as Charlie moved to get onto her feet. 

“I thought you had died” Alicia breathed in and tried to calm herself. Charlie watched as she swallowed the next few words. “Don’t you ever do that to me again” Alicia said in a low tone. Charlie opened her mouth to say something witty but swallowed her words as the girl practically threw herself at the captain, with a gentleness so soft, it felt like Charlie was holding onto a cloud. “You’re a fucking idiot Charlie Windsor”

“Yes, insufferable even” Charlie smiled, “but a puppy remember, a puppy, and that makes me most of all cute as a button” 

“You almost died” Alicia spoke into the tall girl’s chest. “You intolerable idiot why are you pleased with yourself” Charlie used her good arm to drape a hand around Alicia and placed a well meant kiss atop her head. She must have showered too because she smelled like warm coconut, vanilla, and sunshine.

“But I didn’t die” Charlie said with a smug look. “And I have to say… I looked very fucking cool the whole time” her lazy laugh filled the cabin and Alicia couldn’t help but join in. They took a seat on Alicia’s bed as Alicia began working on fixing the sling that had proven to be a bit too tight. 

“You looked cool until you fainted, you looser” The brunette replied with a small smirk making Charlie blush. She then remembered waking up to green eyes scanning her face, rubbing a damp cloth over her forehead, as a small pout formed on lips that were pursed a little too tightly. Alicia’s concern had been masked by a scowl so fierce Charlie faked being knocked out for another three minutes before Raven pressed down on her bad arm by accident and she fell off the bed as her body lurched in pain. The tall girl shook herself back to reality as the brunette reached over her and grabbed her iPhone and put on music. She raised an eyebrow as Charlie held back her tongue and yawned into the palm of her hands. 

“I didn’t take you to be the type of girl to listen to Kings of Leon. That’s a very east coast band…I’ve always thought you to be more into something like MGMT or Jack Johnson” Charlie smiled again. Alicia shook her head. Charlie had given two completely different genres of music that had very little to do with each other. Alicia rolled her eyes and stretched out putting her head on Charlie’s chest, on her good side, getting comfortable as they listened to one of the more mellow songs on said collection.

“This is from your personal library that you felt the need to add to my personal library. Yet somehow this band, shit band, makes music fit for this shit situation we are in… so I guess you can say they’re growing on me. Their older stuff seems better than the last album they put out. Not that I’ve made time to listen but you know… you have a habit of playing their music all the damn time”

“Beach Side is one of my favourites love… and its on Come Around Sundown, its not horrible, but Only By The Night is more of my tune. But I’m an old soul, you have no excuses for this.”

“You would like a band that’s like fifty years older than us”

“Try like four or five… but actually my brother was really big into Kings of Leon and we’d listen to them while running or doing our training exercises. We’d stay up late stargazing and listening to them. I had my first drink with him listening to Ragoo and the first time I flew a jet I got myself prepared while listening to McFearless on full blast. Yes. I am guilty of liking them and don’t you dare for a second say they suck because two days ago I caught you jamming out in the shower to Black Thumbnail as Ofelia did her best to ignore what she said was ‘ungodly screeching’” Charlie said with a light laugh. Alicia slapped her chest and burrowed her face into the taller girl’s neck hiding a blush. 

“You’re impossible” The brunette said and turned her head placing a light kiss right at the spot under Charlie’s ear which she was sure would shut her up. “I like the band okay. Its not the best fucking music but I like it. Its very… you”

“Well you taught me how to appreciate The 1975 and that Troye Sivan kid so we are even”

“We are” Alicia laughed. Charlie shifted her body so that she got comfortable with Alicia in her arms. “Here now I want to listen to Troye and you’re going to act like you love it” she said with a little huff as her body stretched out and switched to the latter Charlie had mentioned. Wild played at full volume and she settled back down into Charlie’s arms knowing fully well that the girl was tapping her fingers to the beat. Her chest felt swollen—she had to apologise to the girl for scaring her. She had to because she knew Alicia could not bear the thought of loosing anybody she got close to. Charlie knew Alicia. Charlie knew she had to be careful not to break her heart—and dying for a stupid cause, even if said cause would make her a hero, was too stupid of a reason to make such heart break legitimate. 

“I’m sorry I scared you last night. I knew I was being stupid. I just wanted—I thought” the idea of apologising sounded a lot better in her head. How could she tell the girl she only played a fool in order to impress her? How? Her brain felt like mush. She wanted to impress Alicia so much she had a lapse of coherent thought and found herself, in the middle of a storm out at sea, kicking an anchor into the ocean. The stupidity of it all made her cringe. “Perhaps I was just being an idiot” she said giving up.

“Look its fine okay” Alicia said closing her eyes and tapping her feet to the slow song. “I get it” she said and opened her green eyes, a smug grin taking over her beautiful face, as she stared at the captain with fake innocent eyes. “I’d throw myself overboard to look super cool for me, also. I’m a fucking babe”

“Someone’s a bit ballsy” Charlie said and Alicia raised an eyebrow shifting her weight making Charlie realize she wasn’t the only one excited to be in the presence of the girl. “Well you know…you’re so… oh fuck off” she said and rolled her eyes in the same fashion Alicia would.

“Those were your words to Raven Reyes Sir Duke, not mine” the girl laughed. Charlie blushed and did her best to look unaffected by the sound of her laugh. She didn’t even bother hiding a furious blush as she moved in to take the girl’s smug lips into her own.


	24. Chapter 24

“Charlie? Charlie are you there?” the static on the radio was harsh and Chris barely made out the words. He was sitting in the cabin reading the manual to shoot the harpoon and planned on trying it as soon as the weather cleared. They couldn’t try and sail the sea until the storm was past and the waves were less rough. They couldn’t spare the fuel. So the boy was bored, and once again, needed to find a way to keep himself from becoming insane. His body shifted and he yanked the chord on the radio that sat by him, answering with purpose.

“This is Chris Manawa on the Abigail? How can I be your service?” He asked. 

“Captain Wilhelm Alexander Mason, Ark Ground Station, LA” the man said. “Hi Chris… can you please get the Captain on the radio? I have a bit of bad news, there is a storm”

“We know… she dislocated her shoulder on the fucking storm and we’re stranded in it as it passes you cupcake” Chris spoke over the boy then took the speaker in his hand and said. “Aye aye Captain Wilhelm” and with a lot of attitude, mostly from being told what to do by someone who wasn’t even on the boat, dragged the piece down towards the sleeping cabins and tossed the door open find Alicia and Charlie in a very compromising position. Alicia was on top and very much topless. Chris’ face distorted in horror and he let out a yelp as the brunette turned around, covering herself, and threw the ipod at his head. 

“What the fuck Chris?” Alicia yelled. “Get out! Try knocking? Peharps” she crashed her body into Charlie to hide herself and the boy yelped as he was pelted on the side. 

Ofelia heard the stirring and came out of Nicks cabin with a bat in hand. She burst in laughter at the scene and shut the door. "Chris I never took you to be a peeker"

"No I wasn't"

"Not cool" she joked and jumped a little as the door swung open again and Alicia stepped out in Charlie's captain shirt. The girl was visibly infuriated with the situation but couldn't help but look wonderfully flustered with her bruised lips and fiery eyes. She blushed as Charlie stepped out behind her, barely disheveled as though she had not also been caught necking in the small cabin.

"Chris" Charlie stated calmly in almost a whisper. "How can I be of service?" She smiled. Chris swallowed painfully and rubbed his arm. He had really forgotten why he had come down. Blushing he cleared his throat but before he could speak Raven and Octavia pushed him aside to grab Charlie by the shirt collar.

“Really Charles… you’ve got to start timing this shit better” Raven said with a small smirk following Octavia. The girl held on to her sling and shot Alicia a small smile as she was dragged away.

“What?” 

"If you weren't too busy repopulating the planet you'd notice that we hit land”

Octavia was the first to step out into the dark night. Her feet were the first to touch the sand and to then she led Raven and Charlie as they scoped around the boat for an incoming attack. “Damn Charles, if I believed in God, then she's definitely not wanting you and sea tiddies to fuck" Raven said with a nonchalant grin. She held her gun at her side and ignored Octavia's eye roll. Charlie held her large automatic with a giant smile-- she was quite pleased in knowing there was no such thing as a god, and therefore she would indeed have another shot with Alicia. "Seriously, the fuck kind of timing was that?"

“Stop!” 

The shout caused the trio to stop for a moment; however a wild eyed captain, wanting to hear the voice again took a step forward out of the shadows of the large boat.

“I said stop or say goodbye to your kneecaps" came the voice and at this Charlie dropped her gun and dropped to her knees with her hands in the air.

“Clarke!” she shouted at the open nothingness. She was met with silence. “Clarke" she said, “Its me, the captain" Charlie shouted again and then looked back at Octavia and Raven who were equally astonished. She made a look as if to say, you heard that, and getting affirmation turned her face into the night again. 

“Stand slow and stay still" the voice shouted again. Charlie did. Then seeing one small figure shift in the treeline made another tentative step forward.

“Clarke!” she shouted. Charlie lost herself for a moment and started walking towards the figure who stalked them in the moonlight. "Clarke, it's Charlie" she said.

“Charles no!” Octavia shouted and heard the stranger's gun go off. A warning shot. A warning shot that caused some stirring on the boat. Alicia was the first to step out into the moonlight and stare down at the scene from the cabin. Charlie's eyes were fixed upon the stranger. 

"Clarke Griffin" Charlie shouted again just in time that a blonde head popped out into the moonlight. Octavia and Raven let out a gasp so loud Alicia stood on her toes. It was the missing girl. But she did not let down her gun. Charlie ran towards the figure now at full speed. Her smile, her heart beat, cutting through the darkness like a lighthouse. Clarke's steady hand aimed steady at the tall girl as she opened her mouth to call on to the girl-- but her voice fell short in the night-- as another gunshot stilled her.


	25. Not an Edit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just link to continuation. Not sure if I posted it.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14406381/chapters/33270417


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